Beyond Tomorrow (Arc Two)
by HappyCookiie
Summary: Although she died in his arms, Inuyasha refuses to believe that Hanyuu is truly dead as he is certain that he saw her flying free in the expanding sky. But with an insane psychopath king after her wings and power, things really start to go wild! Only one thing is certain: Inuyasha will never let his daughter go again. And can Kagome pull through her second pregnancy?
1. Frozen Like A Lake

**And now part 2 begins. It's time for more fun, tragedies, excitement and adventures with our favourite cast! Thank you for reading the first Arc of this story and I'm glad that you enjoyed it (if you did). I hope that this half of the story will be as good as the first half was and I hope that it doesn't drag on too much. But I enjoy writing this story because I just do hahah, it's a fun thing to do when you don't have a lot of homework :( Anyway here you are, Arc Two! :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

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Chapter One

The air was cold but fresh as the tiny white snowflakes fell to the ground and covered the land in a beautiful crisp white blanket; it was the middle of winter so the lakes and rivers were now huge icy mirrors.

Inuyasha was sitting beside a frozen river breaking away the ice with an axe, he would then heat the ice so that it would melt down into water which he could then use for Kagome's bath; since she was fragile and rather immobile at the moment she had to bathe in a small bath that Sesshomaru had lent the pair. She was now in the middle of her pregnancy and she was also suffering from terrible baby sickness, every few days she would run a high fever and vomit several times. Though this was her second time with child this time was clearly much worse than her first and either Rin or Kaede or even Inuyasha himself were at her side constantly in case of an accident.

Despite Kagome's apologizing and trying not to work him so hard for her sake, he couldn't help but worry about her even more than when she was first pregnant. The baby was a fierce little thing and it seemed to enjoy kickboxing inside Kagome's stomach even more than Hanyuu had done, it was highly demanding and used up most of it's mother's nutrients meaning that she needed to be fed almost every hour though she would sick it up a little while later.

He sighed as he felt a familiar presence and scent standing behind him, turning his head slightly he sighed, "What do you want, Sesshomaru?" The dog demon Lord glanced down at his younger brother and gave him a blank look, this frustrated Inuyasha as he snapped, "Can you try answering me at least once? I get sick and tired of your vague looks and one word statements!"

Sesshomaru was the one to sigh this time as he chiseled a pile of ice for his brother with one crack of his green whip, "Calm yourself, Inuyasha. The stress is getting to your puny head." he said flatly.

"Oh shut your trap, will you? I'm not in the mood for your attitude." he scowled as he scooped up all of the ice that Sesshomaru had chopped up and placed them into a large brown sack and slung it across his shoulder as he stood up and headed for his hut.

Sesshomaru followed after, using up the rest of Inuyasha's patience quota for the day as he spun around angrily and shouted, "WHAT!? What do you want!? Why are you following me!?"

"I am only assisting you, little brother. Do you have a problem with that?"

"But you hardly ever help me out and whenever you do it's usually for your own selfish reasons, you've been too nice and supportive to me recently, something doesn't smell right! Why are you suddenly acting like an actual brother?"

"Because that is what I am, I haven't been taking that role very seriously so now that has to change." he replied flatly as he overtook Inuyasha by walking a lot faster.

The snow on the ground was still thick and hard to walk in but Sesshomaru seemed to be gliding over it with ease, Inuyasha increased his walking speed as he tried to overtake his older brother: there was no way that he was letting stupid Sesshomaru beat him back to his own home. Sesshomaru saw Inuyasha's speed quicken from the corner of his eye so he smirked slightly and quickened _his _pace just to annoy the half demon even more.

Inuyasha knew that Sesshomaru was trying to out-walk him as well as show off, but he wouldn't let himself be beat so easily; after all, a race was a race even if there was no signal that it had even begun. The half demon took off immediately in the direction of the forest, the bag of ice still slung securely across his shoulder, and ran as fast as he could. Sesshomaru wasted no time as he also flew into the forest which happened to be on the way to the village.

The two zoomed through the snow-coated trees at high speeds leaving frosty trails behind them. Inuyasha glanced across at Sesshomaru who had caught him up and was flying through the whiteness of the forest, who also glanced back at him and Inuyasha could have sworn that he saw his brother smirk in a sort of competitive way. But it wasn't in an overly arrogant look or a look that could have suggested he was superior to the half breed that Inuyasha was, it was a look that two brothers would give one another whilst playing together. Inuyasha had never seen Sesshomaru look at him like that before.

Sunlight was streaming onto Inuyasha's face from the gaps in the snowy trees up ahead, the village was only a few feet away and he was not going to lose this race. He leapt high into the branches away from Sesshomaru and hopped from branch to branch until he was out in the clearing in which the village had been built upon, he landed in front of his hut and crossed his arms proudly, "It looks like I win, Sesshomaru! Sucker!" he gloated proudly only to find that his brother was nowhere in sight.

Shaking his head and deciding that the Sesshomaru he had seen only a few seconds ago was simply an illusion, he would never be that decent. He walked into the hut and placed the bag filled with ice on the floor beside Kagome who was sleeping in her futon; she was sweating heavily and tossing and turning all over the sheets.

Kaede wandered into the room with several clean blankets in her arms which she placed down in one of the cupboards, when she eventually noticed Inuyasha she sighed at him, "Ah, Inuyasha. I only sent ye to get some ice, what ever took ye so long?"

"I uh, was pre-ocupied with... something else." he muttered trying not to make himself seem suspicious. If he told Kaede that he was running around playing with Sesshomaru and they weren't trying to kill each other she would probably die of a heart attack and that wouldn't be ideal right now.

She raised her eyebrow at him and nodded slowly, "Right, of course ye were."

"Well... Don't just sit there woman, go and melt the ice with the stove!"

"But I'm a frail old woman, shouldn't YE be doing that now?"

"I can't just leave Kagome's side like that when I just got back to her! Are you trying to make me look like a bad husband!?"

"Inuyasha... the stove is directly behind ye." she sighed face palming, "Ye would only have to move a few feet whereas if I did it I would have to walk all the way across the room!"

"Alright! Alright! I'll do it already! YE lazy old hag." he snapped crawling over to the inside fire and emptying the bag of ice into Kaede's soup dish (although Inuyasha thought that it looked more like a witch's cauldron). The icy chunks immediately began to melt in the large pot and steamed in the heat.

"See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Kaede teased.

He simply scowled at her then glanced across at Kagome who still looked like she was having a very troubled sleep, he sighed as she coughed and stretched out her legs in pain. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her forehead crinkled as her eyebrows pointed down in discomfort.

"Oh dear, she must be having another nightmare." Kaede said as she gently shook Kagome in an attempt to wake her.

Kagome groaned and opened her eyes before yawning and coughing violently, she could feel the vomit climbing up the back of her throat as she reached for the bucket beside her futon and choked into it. Inuyasha rubbed his hand up and down her back in a soothing manor as he tried to make her feel better, it didn't however quite stop her from being sick.

When she eventually ran out of puke and relaxed back down on the futon, she looked up at Inuyasha and smiled, "I'm sorry that I keep doing that." she apologized, "It just isn't very comfortable when I try to hold it in."

"You shouldn't try to hold it in, just let it out and you'll feel much better." he smiled stroking her forehead.

"Yeah, but it does leave a disgusting taste in my mouth afterwards." she scowled as she tried not to swallow, "Gross!"

He chuckled slightly as he passed her a cup of water to get rid of the foul taste, she happily accepted it and gulped it down, "Don't drink it too quickly, you might get hiccups!" he warned.

"Hiccups? Please! That's a load of nonsense! I've never gotten hiccups from drinking water too quickly in my li..." she started before her sentence was cut short by a loud and violent hiccup.

"What did I tell you?" he grinned smugly as she pouted.

Kaede smiled and emptied the now hot water from the cooking pot into the small bath and walked over to Kagome in order to help her into the basin. However, she didn't have to do much as Inuyasha picked her up bridal style, undressed her from her loose ordinary village women's kimono and carefully placed her into the warm water. "I've got this, Kaede." he said turning to the old woman as Kagome relaxed in the liquid, "You can go back to Jirou and Rin now if you want to."

The old woman nodded and left through the door for her own home. She knew that Inuyasha would take care of his wife and make sure that no harm would come to her, after all she was safer with him than she was with anyone else.

Inuyasha knelt beside the bath and watched Kagome who had closed her eyes and was relaxing in the warm water, he smiled at her peaceful expression which much more pleasant that her vomiting or painful expressions.

She felt his gaze on her and opened her eyes, "What are you smiling about?" she asked quietly as she was losing her voice from all that her mouth had been through lately.

"Oh nothing really." he smiled, "I was just thinking how pretty you are."

She blushed and looked away making him chuckle, "No I'm not." she whispered shyly, "Not really."

"But you are! I don't tell you enough, you really are beautiful! Well _I_ think that you are anyway."

Her blush deepened as she looked down into the bathwater shyly, "T-Thank you." she stuttered.

He grinned at her embarrassed reaction as he began to pour water over her hair and then rub it dry with one of the blankets that Kaede had brought with her earlier. Kagome giggled as he tickled her leading to him being drenched in the bath water that she had splashed at him, he spat out the the liquid that had flown into his open mouth and shook himself to dry off.

"You really are just like a dog." she laughed as he continued to shake the water from his hair and ears.

He grinned and made his ears dance for her making her squeal with delight and clap her hands, she then splashed him some more just to irritate him as he had just properly dried off; the water was now all over the floor and Inuyasha truly did look like a wet dog.

She laughed at his appearance before looking down at her big tummy to feel it, Inuyasha crawled closer to her and lightly rested his head against her stomach to listen.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously. He laughed slightly just as she had finished her sentence, "Why are you laughing?" she asked.

He lifted his head and looked up at her, "It likes you." he smiled happily.

"It... does? How can you tell?"

"I can feel it's heartbeat." he replied leaning back down and pressing his ear to her stomach once again, "It likes the sound of your voice and your touch, in fact it's really happy in there. It already loves you a lot."

"Really?" she asked happily.

"Good job, Kagome. Good job."

* * *

Sesshomaru walked over the snowy turf beneath his feet in search of Kikyo, she was usually at the lake which bordered the lands so he decided to head there first, it was a short walk for a human but for a demon lord like him it would only take a matter of seconds to reach the destination.

Just as he had thought, Kikyo was stood at the edge of the frozen lake staring out into the whiteness as more snow fell and rested on the huge mirror. She looked up at the blank sky and held out her hand to catch a tiny silver snowflake which rested on her palm for a few seconds before melting because of her body heat. "I am fully aware that you are here." she said rather suddenly not even turning her head to face the dog demon, "Why do you insist on going for a silent approach every time?"

He had not intended to sneak up on her, if he had not wanted her to know that he was there then he wouldn't have allowed her to sense his presence. He walked and stood beside her, also staring out across the icy lake and into the clouded distance.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" she asked lost in the scenery, "The villagers call it Lake Serenity, because it's so calm and tranquil out here."

Sesshomaru remained silent like he usually would in a conversation as he continued to stare ahead.

"In fact, this lake reminds me a little of you." she smiled.

This caught his attention as he turned his head to face her and asked, "Why is that?"

"You are calm, composed, mysterious..." she answered as she knelt down and placed the palm of her hand onto the thick ice, "But you are also cold... Like me."

He gazed down at the priestess who's eyes were still fixed on the frozen water as she ran her fingers across it's surface. Kikyo wasn't a cold woman, she was caring, kind, strong and a loyal friend, she was also an excellent ally.

"But what lies beneath the hard icy surface of this lake? I imagine there are a lot of secrets deep down below the thick sheet of ice. And I bet that not many people know about these secrets because it has built up a strong and cold wall to keep everyone out. I do wish that the surface would melt just a little so that I could see what lies beneath, I want to see: I want it to let me in." she said calmly as she looked up at him meeting his gaze.

His heartbeat quickened slightly as his eyes widened a little at the meaning behind her words.

She rose to her feet still gazing into her eyes as she continued speaking, "I want for you to trust me, to be able to rely on me, to talk to me about... well anything that you wish to talk about; I want you to know that I care about you and I will always be here for you no matter what happens."

Sesshomaru couldn't believe what he was hearing though he liked most of the things that she was saying, even though his expression remained as secretive as ever only with a little more emotion behind his piercing eyes.

"I was wrong to begin with." she whispered, "I thought that you were a heartless monster who cared for nothing and killed simply because you were able to. But I was wrong..." she lifted her arm and placed her right hand onto his chest, "I can feel it. Beating away like the sound of the drums on a festival. I can feel that you have a heart."

He raised his hand and placed it over Kikyo's, closing his fingers around hers which caused her to have a reaction, "Do you not fear me?" he asked staring deep into her dark brown eyes.

"No. I do not." she answered firmly as she stared back intensely.

"But the sound of your own heartbeat betrays you. I can hear it from here, loud and clear."

"It is not pounding because I am afraid."

"Then why is it behaving so?"

She smiled, "Take a wild guess."

"...It seems I am more like my father than I had originally thought."

"How so?"

"I possibly do not entirely despise humans anymore. I know I do not despise you."

She giggled quietly, "That is good."

"In fact..." he started, "I may also have fallen for one."

Kikyo's eyes widened at his statement as she stared at him before she smiled and closed her eyes to whisper, "Luckily, I think that this human might have also fallen for you."

Her words made Sesshomaru's heart race faster than before as he pulled her closer towards him by her waist with the arm that he wasn't using to hold her hand, her eyes were still closed and she had parted her lips slightly. He lowered his head, closing the distance between them as he also closed his eyes and tightened his grip on her.

"Keep quiet, you insolent fools! Do you want to give us away!?" cried a voice that sounded like Jaken's from one of the snow-coated bushes, "If Lord Sesshomaru ever found out that we'd been spying on him like this he would have my head!"

"But Master Jaken, _you_ are the one who is making all of the noise." came another voice that sounded like Rin's.

"Silence, you silly girl!"

"Shush!" hushed another that sounded like Shippo, "They'll hear us!"

"Silence as well, you little...!"

"SSSSHHHHHH!" hissed someone that must surely have been Kohaku.

Sesshomaru sighed, he couldn't get _any _privacy these days, well without being stalked, spied on or eavesdropped at least. Kikyo giggled and removed her hand from his chest and walked in the direction of the whispering, she then peered over the top of the bush to see Jaken, Rin, Kohaku and Shippo all sitting arguing in the snow. She coughed to get their attention and when they finally realized that she had seen them they cried out in fear.

"Oh darn! We've been discovered!" Shippo exclaimed.

"I told you this would happen." Kohaku sighed.

"Oh please don't kill me, oh please oh please!" Jaken sobbed as he lay on his knees begging for forgiveness, Rin looked away as she was so embarrassed to be seen with him.

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**That's the end of the first chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it! As much as I enjoy doing it, writing scenes between Sesshomaru and Kikyo is tricky because they are both so calm and concealed so it's hard to think of ways for them to interact and things for them to say; it's no where near as easy as doing scenes between Inuyasha and Kagome ^.^ Well thank you for reading, leave a review if you enjoyed! ~Happy**


	2. Sheltering From The Blizzard

**Hellooooo and welcome to the second chapter, this will only be a short chapter as I have a lot to do but I hope you enjoy it all the same! I held my neighbor's baby today and pretended that it was Hanyuu when she was first born but the child didn't like me and burst out crying, I guess that babies just don't like me :'( I'm going to be a doomed mother when I grow up. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

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Chapter Two

The snow was falling heavily and the wind was picking up, it had gone dark and the sky had clouded over: it was going to be one hell of a snowstorm. The town inn was crowded with men, women and a few children who took shelter from the cold and dark. There was no more room but the landlord had agreed to let the small crowd stay in the downstairs tavern.

A young man with long grey hair that was tied back in a low ponytail sat at the bar sipping from a small cup. His name was Shun and he was a guard/samurai that defended the castle here in the south, he had been out on a stroll in the town when a gale picked up and heavy handfuls of snow were thrown down over him so he ran to the nearest inn for shelter.

He took another swig of alcohol before turning his head slightly to see a young girl walking in from the blizzard wearing a hooded black cape, she sat down beside him and the landlord slid her a cup which she picked up and took a small sip from. Shun peered over at her discretely, trying to see her face however it was completely masked by her hood and bangs of hair; she could have been anyone.

The girl felt his gaze on her as she turned to her left and looked at him, he still couldn't properly see her but her eyes were now visible; they were bright and exciting eyes but they were also full of mystery.

He cleared his throat and addressed her, "Hello. I am Shun, a guard and samurai to the castle."

She simply stared at him, remaining silent. He found it rather odd that she was being so secretive by leaving her cloak hood up and hiding her face, was she hiding from someone?

"What is _your _name? Are you not from around here?" he asked studying her clothing, "You look like you're a traveler."

She paused before answering, _"Yes. I am a traveler." _she said quietly.

"But why come _here_ of all places? Did you come to see the king or something?"

_"... That isn't important, I'm just passing through. Why are you so interested in my business anyway?"_

"I'm just curious, that's all. We don't usually get many travelers coming through here apart from enemies or messengers so a girl simply passing through can be seen as awfully suspicious, people will be incredibly wary of you."

_"Then I shall avoid all contact as much as possible."_

"But you are talking to me." he grinned.

She scoffed and chuckled quietly, _"That is only because I am stuck here with you and I would appear rude if I simply ignored you. I don't want to cause any trouble so I'm laying low for the time being."_

"Trouble? Why are you laying low? Are you hiding from someone?" he asked.

She did not answer him, she just looked down at the drink in her hands and took another sip from it.

"You can't tell me, huh?"

_"I'm sorry, but my life is hardly any of your business." _she huffed before standing and heading for the door.

"Wait!" he called after her, "You can't go out there! Have you _seen_ the weather?"

_"Then what do you propose that I do? You are being incredibly nosy and bothersome and I grow bored of this commotion so I wish to leave now."_

"Just hold on a minute." he said as he rushed over to the landlord and whispered something into his ear, he then handed him a small bag that was filled with gold which the large man accepted happily. He then walked up the wooden staircase behind the bar and signaled for Shun to follow him.

Shun turned to look at the cloaked girl and beckoned her to come to him, she walked towards him and looked up at him, _"Yes?" _she asked.

"I got us a room." he grinned.

_"But they are full? How can you have got a room?"_

"Bribery. They always have at least one spare room, they just want someone to pay them enough for it." he whispered, "Now come on, let's not waste my money!"

He walked up the stairs and followed the landlord to the room, the girl was hesitant at first but eventually followed after. The large man opened a door and showed them in, it was a small room with a couple of futons folded away at the side of the room, "Beds are there and the washroom is in that extra room there." the innkeeper pointed, "You and your wife will be very comfortable here, sir."

Her ears twitched at the word 'wife' and when he left she turned to Shun and raised her eyebrow, _"Your WIFE?"_ she asked, _"What exactly did you say to him?"_

"I had to tell him that we were a married couple! A man and a woman don't just go and stay in an inn for the night if they were only acquaintances! He would be suspicious and I gathered that you don't want to draw too much attention to yourself."

She was about to make a sarky comeback but realized that he was probably right, annoyed that she had been outsmarted she scowled, _"I'm going to clean myself up."_ she said walking off to the extra room and closing the door behind her.

Shun rubbed the back of his head in confusion, she sure was strange; and she hadn't even bothered to remove her cloak or take down her hood, was she really _that _keen on disguises? He walked over to the closed shutters and opened them to see outside, it was still snowing heavily: it seemed that there would be no leaving until it had hopefully calmed in the morning. That meant he would have to spend the night in the same room as this unknown girl whom he had only just met and knew so little about. She wasn't very eager when it came to conversation and it made him wonder just what she was up to and who she was.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shriek from the washroom and a loud thud, he rushed across the room and yanked the door open to see the young girl laying on her stomach on the floor wearing nothing but her under-kimono; she appeared to have slipped and fallen, how very clumsy of her.

He walked over to help her up but stopped when he noticed something rather odd; on each side of her head were two big, black, fuzzy dog ears that twitched occassionally. Her hair was also a light purple colour which he thought was rather unusual. He eventually came to the conclusion that she must be a demon or a spirit so he stepped back and clutched the handle of his sword cautiously.

She raised her head and peered up at him in embarrassment, she then looked away as she felt awkward, she then lifted her arms and covered her ears with her hands. _"Uh..." _she muttered.

Shun knew that he should unsheathe his sword and slice her in two but there was something about her that seemed not quite like a murderous and bloodthirsty demon. She was behaving exactly like a human would and she also even looked it if it weren't for her ears and interestingly coloured hair. The look on her face was so innocent and vulnerable that he found himself unable to eliminate her.

_"This is why I hid my appearance." _she said sitting up, still covering her fluffy triangle ears, _"Because humans don't accept me and neither do demons, I don't belong in either category."_

"Then you're... a _half_ demon?" he asked hesitantly. This was the first encounter that someone or something with demon blood coursing through their veins hadn't yet tried to kill him.

She nodded at his question and looked away again, _"You should have just left me alone, then you wouldn't have gotten into this predicament." _she muttered sadly.

Shun felt pity for her, she seemed incredibly lonely and was wanted dead by many, humans and demons alike. He knelt down on the floor before her and asked, "I'll ask you again: what is your name?"

She peered up at him, confused at his actions; was he trying to win her trust so that he could kill her more easily? Maybe so, but the look in his eyes was sincere and genuine, a liar could not possibly have that kind of gaze. She looked down shyly and whispered, _"...It's Hanyuu."_

"Hanyuu, huh? Hanyuu..." he said as he thought to himself. He knew that he had never met this girl before or even heard of her name yet she seemed so... familiar. Why was that so? "Well then, Han-yuu. Now that you know I won't try to kill you, will you tell me your reasons for coming to this land?"

She paused for a moment before muttering, _"Well uh... I needed some time away from my parents, I just kept causing them trouble so I left. I came here because I heard that there was a powerful head priest who prayed to the winged goddess and had some compassion for the angels resided in the castle here so I wanted to consult him about something."_

"Are you interested in learning more about the winged people or something along those lines?"

_"Very." _she nodded, _"I want to learn everything that I can about them and also... I do have a secret."_

"A secret?"

_"Yes. A secret."_

"What is this secret?"

_"That I cannot tell you, I'm very sorry but it really is a big secret."_

"That's alright. Everybody had secrets after all."

_"Indeed they do." _she agreed, _"Oh and another thing... the next time you come barging in whilst I am washing please knock first or I shall have to be violent with you."_

"My apologies, because of your scream and the loud bang I was worried that you could have been hurt."

_"Then I shall forgive you this time, now please leave so I that can properly undress in peace."_

Shun rose to his feet and left the washroom closing the door behind him, giving her some privacy. She was unlike the other demons that he had previously encountered, they were killers, dangerous and cruel but she was different. Being half and half couldn't have been an easy way to spend a life especially when the other half was human, she would have strength and powers of a demon but she would also have basic weaknesses like a human; she must have been incredibly vulnerable and dangered when she was younger.

However, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had met her somewhere before though he had no memory of ever encountering her; he felt as if he had seen her in his dreams if anything, like he had known her all of his life though he knew that that couldn't possibly be true. He was a human samurai and she was a demi-demon girl.

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter was so short, I have been rather busy and I felt that putting something small on was better than nothing. And Hanyuu is back! YIPPEE! I missed her! As did Inuyasha and Kagome I imagine. But the samurai guy, Shun... who is he? Oh and by the way he isn't Onigumo or Naraku before any of you keen viewers make that assumption. I know that some of you notice a few small things and details like you, sarahdiamond; you really seem to like guessing and you notice the little references that I sometimes put in and I often look forward to what you think will happen next. Thank you to all of my reviewers, favourites, followers and even viewers for carrying on reading this story; I shall try my best not to disappoint you! ~Happy**


	3. Creepy King

**I feel depressed because it is snowy in the story but not in real life, how sad WHY WON'T IT SNOW ALREADY!? Anyway thank you for your reviews and on with the SNOWY story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Three

"Just stick to the plan and I'll be able to smuggle you into the castle grounds without causing too much suspicion, then I'll take you to the shrine where that priest you were looking for lives; he's always going on about the winged people and their legends so you'll learn everything that you want to know from him." Shun explained.

Hanyuu nodded as she put on her cloak and lifted her hood to conceal her appearance, _"But what if someone stops and and questions us? Won't you get into a lot of trouble for trying to sneak someone who has demon blood into the castle?"_

"If you keep your hood up like that then they'll just think that you're an ordinary village girl that I found to use for my own entertainment."

_"What!? That is absolutely awful! Do you take random women off the streets on a regular basis!?" _she cried in horror.

"Who, me? Oh no! _I _find that behaviour sickening and to be honest and a waste of time. I would never use a woman for something as low as nocturnal entertainment! That is something that a foolish monster would do, like the other men guarding the castle!" he exclaimed, horrified that she would accuse him of such a thing.

_"You do not approve of using women for your own entertainment then?"_

"Of course not!"

She chuckled quietly and muttered to herself, _"You're the exact of of someone I used to know."_

Shun heard her low remark and asked curiously, "Did you know someone who was like that?"

_"Oh um! Sort of." _she replied awkwardly.

"... He didn't... entertain himself with you, did he?" he asked hesitantly.

She panicked at his question and shook her hands frantically, _"Oh no! Not at all! I would never let someone like him anywhere near me!" _she exclaimed blushing bright red.

"Good for you, not letting men push you around just because you're a woman." he smiled.

They left the inn and made for the castle, it wasn't a very long walk but it felt longer for Hanyuu, she felt as if everyone was watching her or that her ears were poking out from under her hood; it also didn't help that the snow was a few feet deeper than the previous day due to the wild snowstorm. Shun noticed her uncomfort and whispered down to her (he was a lot taller than her after all), "Stop worrying over nothing, no-one is looking at you. Just keep walking and try to act normal when we pass through the castle gates."

_"Okay." _she nodded, pulling her hood down further covering her eyes.

They walked through the gates luckily without any trouble, a few other guards grinned at Shun and raised their eyebrows at his lady friend but he simply ignored them and quickened his pace causing Hanyuu to have to jog a little to keep up with him.

When they were in an empty courtyard away from the guards and castle residents, he let out a sigh of relief and stretched out his arms yawning, "Phew, we should be alright from here on."

_"Thank you for helping me like this, I really appreciate it." _she smiled at him, still holding her hood.

"It's not a problem, someone as crazy and reckless as you wouldn't get very far on your own on a stealth mission like this." he laughed.

_"Huh? What makes you think that I'm crazy and reckless?" _she asked in confusion, _"We only met the other day."_

He paused and pondered, "... I don't know why I thought that. I just did." he admitted.

Pushing the topic aside, Hanyuu walked in front of him and looked around, _"So, which way is it to that shrine?" _she asked.

"This way." he answered as he lead her to a large building that looked more like a temple than a shrine. They entered the large room and looked around for someone, "Hello? Is anybody here?" Shun asked loudly.

Whilst he was searching for another person, Hanyuu found herself entering a room with lots of paintings inside it. There were many pictures of the angels, spreading their wings and flying high above the clouds and into the heavens. Hanyuu let down her hood as she examined more of the pictures. Some of them were stories of how the winged people would save a person's life with their powers of healing and how they could also take away a person's life away with their powers of destruction.

There was a larger painting at the back of the room that appeared to be a large castle floating in the sky that the angels were flying towards, she walked towards it and studied it closely.

"A demon? How did you get in here? There are spells and charms to ward demons away but here you stand live in the flesh." came an unfamiliar voice from behind.

She turned to see a tall well dressed man holding a large staff, he was looking at her in bewilderment as he could not quite comprehend on how she had got in, _"Um." _she muttered, _"I am a demon, but not FULLY." _she explained.

"Only half then?" he asked recieving a nod as a response, "What do you want here anyway?"

Before she could answer Shun walked in a gave a sigh of relief when he saw her, "Oh there you are, when you vanished I was worried that the inhabitants of this shrine had grabbed you and tried to exorcise you or something."

"Ah, a samurai? Tell me, young man. Do you know this half demon girl?" the man with the staff asked.

"Yes, I was the one who brought her here." she answered, "She wanted to talk to you about the winged people, it seems that she's just as interested in them as you are."

_"This is the head priest?"_

"That is me, girl." he replied, "Now tell me, just what business do _you _have with the winged beings?"

_"I uh, it's kind of a long story actually."_

"I have a lot of time to kill."

_"Well... it would be easier if I just showed you." _she said quietly.

"Showed me what?" he asked curiously.

She undid her cloak so that it fell to the floor and she lowered the upper part of her kimono slightly.

"What are you doing?" Shun asked in panic, "A little while ago we were talking about how letting men take advantage of you was a bad thing!"

_"That is not what I am doing." _she replied loosening her kimono more and exposing more of her flesh despite Shun's protests.

As she held the upper part of her priestess kimono so that it was covering her breasts, her back glowed brightly and her wings danced out into the open, floating down beside her shoulders and shifting gracefully. The head priest gasped in awe at what he saw, "You're a...?" he started but was unable to finish his sentence due to the shock.

She nodded at his unfinished question as he fell to his knees in amazement, "So beautiful." he whispered.

Shun simply stared at the white feathered wings, he knew that he should be awfully surprised right now but for some reason he just wasn't; he felt that he had seen this happen before, it was as if this wasn't new to him at all. He wondered why that was so.

"What is it that you desire?" the head priest asked as he looked up at the lovely creature before his eyes, "I shall do everything in my power to help you fulfill the wish."

_"Wish?" _she asked, _"What wish?"_

"Before a winged person meets their demise, they must grant a single wish. That wish can be anything and for anyone but it must be for good intentions or that winged person's soul will become defiled."

_"That sounds a lot like the Shikon Jewel's power." _Hanyuu pondered.

"Well the sacred jewel was greatly influenced by a winged girl who fell in love with a human man but gave up her life to purify her family, she then along with her birth-parents became a part of the jewel. Since she was unable to grant a wish before she died, her power was passed on to the jewel giving it the power to grant the wish that she could not." he explained.

_"So that is where the jewel obtained that ability. And also, about that winged girl... um... that was me."_

"It was!? How incredible!"

Once again, Shun felt that he should also be reacting the way the priest was but he found himself unable to find any of this shocking; this story of a winged girl and a sacred jewel... it all seemed so awfully familiar.

Hanyuu turned her head to once again look at the painting of the huge sky castle, _"By the way. What is this?" _she asked.

"That is Amaterasu, the sky kingdom that floats high above the clouds where the winged people originated from, before they all died that is."

_"So where is it now?"_

"No-one knows, it has been lost for centuries."

_"I see..."_

Shun cut in all of a sudden, "But if you're a winged person then surely _you _know where it is? Did you know it's location when you were Haya?" he asked.

_"I am afraid not." _she admitted in disappointment.

"Let's continue our discussion later, the two of you must be tired and thirsty." the priest said, "Follow me."

Hanyuu brought her wings back in and pulled her kimono higher up over her upper abdomen before following after Shun and the priest. So long ago the angels originally lived in a flying castle named Amaterasu? She wondered if there were any more winged people left that were just like her, or was she cursed to be alone forever?

* * *

A little while later when she and Shun were sitting by a small table with cups of sake on it she turned to him and spoke, _"Hey. Earlier, when we were talking about Amaterasu... you asked me if I knew the location of it."_

"Yes I did, was there something wrong with me asking that?" he asked.

_"No, that isn't it." _she said shaking her head,_ "It was what you said afterwards that was odd."_

"Why, what did I say?"

_"You asked me if I knew the location when I was Haya. True, that is a fair question to ask but there was one problem with it."_

"Which was?"

_"Neither me nor the high priest ever mentioned the name, Haya. We referred to my past self as the 'winged girl' so the question I am asking you is this: how could you possibly have known what my former name was?"_

Shun paused. He didn't know how to answer her question, he didn't know how he had known her former name it had just rolled off his tongue as if he had said it a thousand times before. That had been happening a lot recently, not major things but small things that Hanyuu would do Shun would have a strong sense of Déjà vu. Even shocking secrets he learned about her, he felt as if he already knew somehow. It was as if he already knew her incredibly well.

"... I don't really know how to answer your question." he admitted, "I know it sounds weird but it really just came to me."

_"Well, if you do speak the truth that is a rather strange thing to happen to someone. How do I know that you haven't been stalking me or something?"_ she suggested playfully.

"Don't be so ridiculous, who would ever want to stalk someone as weird as _you_?" he teased more playfully than her.

_"Well obviously I wouldn't know that fact, now would I? You could be a creepy weirdo who stalks innocent little girls like myself." _she teased.

"Don't kid yourself, no-one would EVER stalk a funny little demon like you." he grinned.

_"You are the one who is funny, but not a good funny."_

"Are you two finished yet?" the priest asked who looked as if he had been sitting down for a while now waiting for them to cease their bickering.

They stopped instantly and coughed awkwardly.

The priest continued anyway, "We have a very special guest who is here to see you, miss."

_"Oh? Is that so? Who could it be?" _she wondered.

"You may enter, sir." the priest called loudly out of the room.

A strong looking man dressed in fine blue robes who looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties walked into the room and took a seat beside Hanyuu, he looked across at her with a very strange look and did not speak for some time.

She began to feel uncomfortable under his strange gaze as she slightly shifted closer to Shun in fear, there was something in his eyes that wasn't quite right.

"This is Lord Komatsu, our castle's king and ruler." the priest introduced his master politely, "He has always taken an interest in the winged people's ancestry and like me he has longed for the day that another would walk among us."

The king bowed and addressed Hanyuu, "How do you do, miss?"

She shivered at the sound of his voice and found herself edging even closer to Shun almost to the point that she was nearly sitting on his lap. The samurai had noticed her unusual behaviour and wondered what could be bothering her, her expression looked a little fearful and judging by how much she had moved away from the king it was probably safe to say that she wasn't all that keen on him. Maybe she had heard the rumors of his womanizing; he would entertain himself with a woman from the town then have her beheaded claiming that she had 'bewitched' him into sleeping with her. But Hanyuu was a smart and strong-willed girl, she wouldn't let herself get involved with someone like him; she had even said so herself.

"I have dreamed of the day that I would finally meet a lovely maiden with wings such as yourself." he complimented, taking her hand and kissing it much to her horror, "You are indeed as beautiful as the stories say."

_"T-Thank you, your highness. But your flattery is wasted on me, I'm not really all that beautiful." _she stuttered awkwardly, he was too close for her liking and she really wanted him to move away and let go of her hand.

"Ah, you are modest too. Such innocence, that is indeed a rare beauty these days." he smiled, releasing her hand much to her delight as she leaned away from him slightly.

She tried her best to look anywhere but his eyes, they were white and cold, there really was something that just wasn't right about them, something that made her skin crawl and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Tell me, where a bouts are you staying?" he asked curiously.

_"T-The inn in the town a little way away."_

"Oh no, that just won't do." he shook his head, "You must stay here in my castle, you will be comfortable and warm and you will be well fed."

Hanyuu panicked at his request, staying away from publicity was her original intention and here she would have more privacy; but would she really? With this king under the same roof as her, she wouldn't feel safe and Hanyuu couldn't stand feeling threatened; it reminded her of the very first danger that she ever experienced when Ren had kidnapped her and almost killed her. She hated her fear.

_"Only if Shun here can stay with me to protect me." _she said as firmly as she could manage right now. She was afraid of this strange man but with Shun there to keep him away or at least stay with her so she wouldn't be completely _alone _with the king if he decided to pay her a little visit.

The king paused for a moment to think but eventually agreed, "Yes, alright. That will be acceptable. Guard her well." he ordered the samurai.

"Yes, sir." Shun bowed. He was confused now, why did Hanyuu want him to protect her? She really must have been afraid of the king. He decided to question her later when they were alone.

Lord Komatsu led the pair through the castle corridors to a large room at the edge of the palace, there was a balcony that over-looked the frozen gardens. Hanyuu entered the room and looked around for an extra room which should be the washroom, _"Where do we bathe?" _she asked the king.

He pointed down the corridor and replied, "There is a large indoor spring just down that way, all the other lovely ladies use it and I am sure that they will all be very jealous of your flair. But if you want to bathe alone, go late in the evening when it has just turned dark out, the others will have already taken their baths and have left."

She nodded politely and bowed her head as he took his leave. A _public_ spring? It would be a real problem if someone walked in on her with her wings exposed! She would have to be extra careful.

* * *

Later that night when Shun and Hanyuu were laying in their bed (yes, it was a double bed so they were lying awkwardly right on each edge of the bed far away from one another). He spoke to her quietly so that no-one would overhear him, "Hanyuu? What was wrong with you earlier? When you first met with Lord Komatsu?"

She did not reply at first and he wondered if she was asleep but she replied quietly, _"There was something about him that I did not like. He had a funny look in his eyes that disturbed me a little."_

"I know that he has a bad reputation for being a player but maybe he was just being friendly and polite to you, he's wanted to meet an angel like you for a long time now and I bet he found it hard to contain his excitement; I bet that that was why he was looking at you funny."

_"Maybe so, but..."_

"But what? Don't tell me that he's ANOTHER stalker who's been spying on poor and innocent girls like you?"

_"Oh, hush! I would like to sleep now and I will not be able to if you keep rambling on all night." _she huffed turning over so that she had her back to him. He laughed at her pathetic behaviour and also closed his eyes to sleep.

Lord Komatsu peered at the sleeping half demon from behind the door and ginned evily before walking back to his quarters, he now had her right where he wanted her.

* * *

**Uh oh, this king sure is suspicious isn't he? Just what does he want with our little Hanyuu? Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter! ~Happy**


	4. Kirai The Killer

**I am so sorry that it has been a whole week since I last updated! I was very busy with homework, my computer was playing up and I was having trouble with the internet connection! So again, I am very sorry for making you all wait this long and here is the chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Four

The crescent moon was shining brightly in the night sky, beaming in through the long windows of Lord Komatsu's palace and illuminating the hallways that were usually shrouded in darkness and mystery.

Hanyuu scurried quietly down the corridor, clutching a white cloth and a bundle of clothes as she entered the washroom with the large indoor hot spring.

It was the dead of the night so she would have to be very careful to not wake any of the castle's residents, none of them could ever learn her secret. The only ones here who knew of her ancient heritage was Shun, the head priest of the temple and Lord Komatsu himself.

Checking the outside hallway for any possible pursuers, she slid the screen shut carefully and undid her kimono, letting it drop to the ground, revealing her bare flesh and allowing her wings to extend out comfortably; being tucked into a small outfit nearly everyday made them feel cramped and flattened.

She placed the white cloth which she would later use to dry herself with beside the pool's edge along with her clothes and crawled into the liquid slowly.

The water was warm and smelled of rose petals, it steamed silently and worked its way into Hanyuu's tired skin; she sighed peacefully at the calm feeling that circulated within her body.

As strange as the king was, he had been right about the washroom being empty at this time of night and she couldn't help but feel rather relieved that he had spoken the truth; but there was still something that was very wrong with him though she wasn't entirely sure what it was quite yet.

Her wings shifted calmly as they sloshed around slowly in the warm water, the minty greenness of the spring sunk into the furthest cracks between her feathers and gently massaged the sensitive extra limbs. Hanyuu closed her eyes and allowed herself to slip into her thoughts as the water gently lapped at her chest.

She often tried to avoid thinking of her mother or father, or Onigumo and his drastic change to the evil Naraku; but sometimes the memories just bled right through the wall that she had built in her mind. She missed her friends and family very much and often wondered what they were doing, but she knew that really what they all needed was to let her go and carry on with their lives: especially Inuyasha. The image of his broken face as he held her in his arms for the very last time still remained in her head clear as crystal, she had tried and tried to rid herself of his expression and pleas but she could not forget them.

She had caused him enough pain and suffering already and she never wanted to see him like that ever again - it would crush her soul completely.

She also thought about Sō'unga occassionally, she wondered just what had become of him after she had sent him away using the powers of the Rift. Had he been found by the old flea and his allies and been sealed away for many centuries only to finally awaken but be destroyed by Inuyasha and Kagome? After all he had done for her, that did not seem fair at all. She owed her life to the mighty fang - literally.

He had saved her life.

Sō'unga had given up every last drop of his lifeforce in order for her to survive Naraku's miasma at the cost of his own life. Without him she would be dead.

A sudden splash and low pitched hiss in the bath only a few feet away from Hanyuu caught her attention immediately as she snapped out of her thoughts and stared over at the area where the movement had come from. She sunk down further into the water so that it was up to the tip of her nose and waited, she stayed still and listened for more noises.

Everything was silent apart from the constant drumming of her own heartbeat as the snow outside began to fall once again. The part of her body where her wings met her shoulder-blades was tingling and the feathers were standing up just as Kirara's fur used to whenever she sensed danger. She erased the image of the two tail from her mind before she could picture her mewing affectionately and rubbing her furry head against Hanyuu's arm lovingly; she couldn't think about such things at a time like this - it hurt too much.

She lifted her head slightly and turned it to peek behind her just in case there was an intruder spying on her or a murderer planning to assassinate her. The screen that was blocking the doorway and hiding her from view was just as she had left it and even though there was no-one there she felt an uncomfortable presence of someone else. Another small splosh in the water made her begin to wonder is she was in fact truly alone.

The feeling of dread was becoming stronger as her heart rate increased, she had brought no candle with her for a source of light because she did not want to be discovered by a servant or respectable individual. She was in complete darkness aside from the moon's bright beacon and the tiny white particles of ice that were falling that could be seen through the large window in the room.

She had never really been afraid of the dark before, oh no. It was what was _in_ the dark that really made the hairs on the back of Hanyuu's neck stand up in fear. There could be anything hiding in the shadows, ready to strike her down whenever she let her guard down and she would be defenseless and quite blind to whatever was attacking.

She was now a whole year old despite her appearance (rapid aging, remember?) so of course she was a little frightened, especially now that she was alone.

Usually when a child is afraid of something like the dark, their natural reaction is to curl into a ball and squeeze their eyes shut to try and ignore the blackness surrounding them. But it is never darker than when we close our eyes after all and yet we keep them closed.

Closing her eyes would be useless, it was hard enough to see already and she didn't need her sight diminishing entirely quite yet so she opened her eyes and looked around the room. The water was steamy and clouded and sitting in it no longer felt safe or comfortable so she moved to lift herself out of the hot spring.

Just as she was about to pull herself out, something grabbed her right foot and held onto it: tight. She yelped in surprise and fear as she lost her balance and toppled over into the warm water, her foot was still caught on something below the surface of the water and did not seem to want to budge. The unknown clinger yanked hard and pulled her so that she was underwater with little air left in her lungs; the more she panicked, the more oxygen she burned.

Reaching down and using her hands to make an attempt at releasing her foot, she opened her eyes and waited for them to adjust in the scalding, scented liquid. She gasped at what she saw, losing more oxygen as she panicked even more.

Coiled around her foot tightly was an incredibly large, dirt-brown coloured eel! It had long, sharp teeth and two empty eye sockets that looked just like black holes. It hissed at her and wrapped around her even more, stopping the blood flowing in her foot.

She clawed at it with her jagged fingernails, desperate for it to release her from its grip; she even used her other foot to kick its head and scratch it with her toenails. She needed air more than anything right now and if she did not remove this eel from her flesh now, she would undoubtedly drown and there would be no-one awake to save her. Death by a bathtub; it wasn't really the best way to go now was it? Hanyuu could think of several better and more noble ways to die that did not involve a wash basin and a daft aqua worm!

With one last powerful strike of her sharp talons, she managed to get it to loosen its grip and allow her to rise to the surface for the air that she needed badly. She coughed and spat out the water that she had inhaled and sucked in as much oxygen as she could and pulled herself out of the pool swiftly.

She had managed to escape the cloudy waters of the bathtub but unfortunately the eel was still firmly attached to her foot, refusing to let go. It did not seem to be affected by the lack of water or the air as it sunk its teeth into her skin and began to suck her dry.

Crying out loudly in pain, she bashed her foot around into the wall several times in order to weaken the slimy creature however it was quite stuck. If only Sō'unga were here right now! She could unsheathe him and squish this puny water serpent with one small swish of the sword!

"HANYUU!"

Hanyuu turned swiftly to see Shun rushing towards her with his samurai sword held up high as he sliced the eel from her foot causing it to fly across the room and hit the window, shattering the glass instantly. He put his sword away under his belt and turned to face her; he was indeed a very skilled swordsman, very capable of protecting this important castle.

_"That was... smashing." _she muttered looking over at the smashed window, she was turning into Kōga by making a joke like that. But Shun simply smiled in amusement at her comment.

"Oh, my Hanyuu!" cried another voice from behind Shun, it was Lord Komatsu rushing in with a candle before placing it down on the ground and pulling Hanyuu into his arms "Are you hurt at all!? Are you in any pain!? What ever happened to you!?" he cried peering down at her right foot which was bleeding onto the floorboards.

Once again, she was getting a bad vibe from the king and she was not too comfortable with him having his arms wrapped around her like he owned her; she also did not like the fact that he seemed to be caressing her wings and checking to see if they had been damaged.

Shun was also a little suspicious of the king's actions towards Hanyuu, he was a good thirty years older than her yet he treated her as if she was his lover especially with the way that he was stroking her back.

Hanyuu shot the young samurai a look as if to say 'help me' but he only raised his hands and mouthed an apology. Although Hanyuu was his companion, Lord Komatsu was his ruler and he could not disobey him for the sake of a half demon girl.

_"You can let me go now, your highness." _she muttered awkwardly, _"I can assure you that I am quite alright now thanks to Shun and yourself."_

Lord Komatsu simply gazed down at her with that disturbing expression of his that Hanyuu disliked so and replied, "Nonsense! Just look at your foot injury! And your clothes! You need to be dried and properly clothed!"

_"Clothed? What do you...?" _she started as she looked up at Shun in confusion who was trying to avoid looking back at her and coughing awkwardly. She gazed down to find that she was still buck naked, she had been so occupied with the eel that she had forgotten to cover herself with the white cloth she had brought. She shrieked in embarrassment and covered her chest with her hands.

"Come." the king said standing and extending his hand down to her, "I shall have someone fit you one of our finest kimono's."

_"That is rather unnecessary!" _she protested, _"It is the middle of the night, no-one will be awake! And besides, I have my own clothes."_ She looked around for her kimono and was puzzled to find that it was nowhere to be seen. _"What's this? I am sure that I left it just here."_

"Is that so? Well it doesn't matter too much, we have many other kimono's that will look lovely on you and you will be very comfortable in them." the king smile his sinister smile making Hanyuu cringe a little.

She looked down sadly, Onigumo had thrown her that kimono when she had first met him, it was her only memory of him but now it was lost just as he was. Sighing, she reached out and took Lord Komatsu's hand which was much larger and harder than her own.

"Wait." Shun spoke loudly as he removed his green outer haori and gave it to Hanyuu, "Put this on for the time being, you can return it to me later."

She smiled at him and draped it around her, glad at being slightly decent again. The king then escorted her in the direction of the exit and before they left she turned to Shun and smiled at him again.

He smiled back as she disappeared behind the corner and was now left alone with the mangled body of the eel; he glanced down at it and scowled, "You are an ugly thing, aren't you? No wonder you attacked someone as lovely looking as that pretty little demon." he muttered to the slimy creature.

He reached down to pick it up however it sprung back to life and leapt back into the water where it swum away through the fountain entrance.

"Damn it!" he cursed, rushing over to the hole in the wall where the hot water was flowing from and filling the bath, "You sneaky little freak!"

Giving up on the elusive eel, he turned and made his way towards the room's exit but stopped when he noticed something strange. Hidden behind the screen beside the doorway, was Hanyuu's kimono and white cloth. How had they gotten all the way over there? He had not noticed them earlier as it was so dark and the king had been blocking them from view... wait. Could it have been possible that The Lord had hidden her kimono and cloth in order to get her into a princess' kimono? But whatever for? Did he want to see her dressed all posh that badly? Just what exactly were his intentions?

* * *

"Oh, you do look beautiful, miss." smiled a middle aged servant who went by the name, Ai.

She was fitting Hanyuu into a shimmering red under-garment before placing a white and pale pink patterned kimono that princess' would usually wear over the top of the kimono, the obi (belt) was red and tied at the back in a large graceful looking ribbon, the sleeves of the costume were very long and covered even her hands completely, there was also a very large silky trail that lay across the floor covering her feet.

Hanyuu peered down at her clothes and lifted her arms to flap the long sleeves around, _"Isn't it a little... big?" _she asked with doubt.

"Oh, nonsense. This is the smallest size that I could find since you are so small and dainty, but luckily it fits you almost perfectly! You look just like a real princess!" Ai exclaimed excitedly.

_"It feels like I have over twenty futon sheets slung across my body."_

Before Ai could comment, there was a small knock on the screen so she scurried across the room to answer it. Shun walked in and bowed at the serving woman politely, when Hanyuu noticed him she felt relieved at seeing someone that she knew so she spoke confidently to Ai, _"Um, Ai? You may leave now, um, if you want to I mean." _she ordered awkwardly. Ai nodded, bowed and left Shun and Hanyuu alone.

Shun studied her in the expensive looking kimono and tried to conceal his chuckle. Hanyuu scowled at him and snapped, _"What are you laughing at?"_

"Nothing really, it's just weird seeing you dressed up all fancy like this." he chuckled a little louder.

She looked away and huffed, _"Oh, hush. You hardly know me anyway. You never know, I may secretly dress like this all the time."_

"Nah, you wear priestess costumes and yukatas (summer kimonos); preferably peach coloured or cream."

She looked at him and stared strangely, he was doing that thing again where he seemed to know things about her that he could not possibly know unless he was previously acquainted with her. But as he seemed to be unaware of doing this and he had denied knowing her several times before, deciding to ignore his comment she pushed it aside and teased, _"You sure do take careful notes on what types of kimonos I wear; surely you are a stalker, are you not?"_

"I have told you this many times before and I will repeat this answer: no I am not a stalker." he replied firmly shaking his head, "You are incredibly paranoid for such a young girl, you should try and relax every now and then."

_"Giving ME orders, eh? Since I'm dressed like this wouldn't it make sense for you to obey MY orders?" _she asked playfully.

"Just because you are dressed like a fine lady does not automatically transform you into one."

_"Stop acting like such a know-it all, just because you are a castle guard does not mean that you have some kind of high authority over a poor innocent girl such as myself. Were you not taught to respect women or have you always treat them this way?" _she pouted at him.

"Innocent? I don't think that that is the best word to describe someone like yourself. Don't you mean ignorant or irritant?"

_"No, I think that you are describing yourself now."_

The pair were both knelt on the floor on all fours right in each others faces, grinning playfully. Shun chuckled at her immaturity and the childish expression that was plastered across her supposedly 'ladylike' face, she seemed so incredibly familiar it was ridiculous. Why did he feel that he knew her so well when he could not recall ever meeting her in the past?

It appeared that Hanyuu was thinking the exact same thoughts as him when she asked, _"Have we met somewhere before?"_

"I don't think so."

_"I see..."_ she muttered as she pondered.

"Why do you ask?"

_"I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like you and I know each other from somewhere but I can't seem to recall where or when."_

"You do?" he asked in surprise, so it wasn't just him that had that strange feeling, "I sort of feel like that too."

_"Really?" _she asked in disbelief, he felt as if he knew her too? True he knew things about her that she was sure she had not told him but how could she have forgotten meeting him if she ever had?

"I am sorry to interrupt your conversation but I could not stay away from my Hanyuu any longer." Lord Komatsu exclaimed as he walked in and kissed Hanyuu's hand like a true gentleman.

"There isn't any need for you to apologize, sire. We were only passing the time with light conversation." Shun bowed as he scooted away from Hanyuu, he did not want the king to think that there was something going on between the pair, he could be punished for flirting with her.

The king nodded and turned to the half demon girl beside him, "Are you alright after suffering such a traumatic experience?" he asked with concern.

_"Yes, I am fine." _she nodded, trying to subtly shift away from him as she was uncomfortable with how near he was to her, _"I have been through worse."_

"You have? You truly are an incredible girl." he smiled.

_"Um, thank you." _she smiled falsely, _"Shouldn't we all get back to sleep now? It is rather late."_

"Late? Oh my dearest girl, it is now dawn. Resuming our sleeps would be useless now but if you insist then I shall allow you to rest some more." he said pointing at the sun rising from behind the mountains through the window.

_"Oh, so it is." _she muttered staring at the fresh sunlight.

"Now excuse me, but I have some... business to attend." he bowed at her, "Feel free to rest for as long as you wish and call Ai or Shun if you should require anything."

_"Alright, bye bye."_

Lord Komatsu stood and left the room leaving Shun and Hanyuu to entertain themselves for the day, since there was not much else to do he turned to her and asked, "Do you want to go look around in the gardens? I know it's cold but the snow has settled and you look as if you need some fresh air."

The thought of playing in the crisp white snow and running around all the icicle trees entertained Hanyuu as she beamed at him happily and nodded.

He offered her his arm and she took it and smiled, he then led her to the sliding doors covering the exit and slid them open revealing the winter wonderland outside. He hopped down into the snow and helped her down afterwards. She was only wearing her socks and they were soaked instantly at the cold touch of the floor, Shun was about to offer her his boots before she threw off her socks and ran around bare-footed. The frozen ground seemed to have no affect at all on her feet as she ran around playfully, falling face-first occasionally because of the ridiculous length of her kimono.

She stood back up and held the rim of her dress up making it easier to run as she headed in the direction of the half moon bridge that went across the frozen river, she ran up it with ease and stood overlooking the icy stream with the crystallized lily pads still on the surface.

Shun followed after her and when he spotted her on the bridge looking across at the mirror of a river he stopped and gazed up at her. The way that her hair blew in the cool breeze and her smiling expression as she stared into the snowy gardens, Lord Komatsu had been right about her being beautiful; if it weren't for her ears and fangs she could easily be mistaken for a celestial being or even a goddess. His scent drifted over to her as she turned her head and smiled pleasantly at him from up on the bridge.

He walked up and stood beside her on the wooden raised platform, she then reached down into her kimono and pulled out his green outer haori that he had lent her a little while ago.

_"I believe that this belongs to you." _he smiled.

"Yes it does. Thank you, my lady." he joked as he took it from her and placed it back over his shirt for warmth.

She laughed at his sarcasm and returned her gaze to the frozen landscape.

* * *

Arina sighed as she placed the books containing information and stories on the winged people back on the shelves in the ruined castle's library. "I need a break, Ren." she shouted across to Ren who was sitting on top of a shelf reading a book. He glanced at her briefly and nodded before returning to his reading.

She turned and exited into the calm winter conditions and breathed in the fresh air. Inuyasha had been visiting frequently asking to borrow more books and documents, it seemed that he was now absolutely obsessed with the winged people and would not give up on his daughter even though he should have known more than anyone that she was not coming back.

"Hello again, Arina."

Arina gasped in horror at the sound of the voice that had come from behind her, she wanted to turn around and see Ren standing there smiling at her but she did not want to turn and see... him.

"Have you missed me?"

She scowled at the ground, still refusing to face who was addressing her, "No I have not." she snapped.

"Not even a little?"

She spun around aggressively and shrieked, "NO! NOT AT ALL!"

Lord Komatsu grinned evily at her, "Now now, Arina. Is that any way to talk to your father?" he asked.

"I no longer consider you my father." she frowned, "What are you doing here!? What do you want!? I was sure that you were dead!"

"Well as you can see, I am alive and well. And what is it that I want, you ask? I want you to ... kill that half demon for me." he chuckled.

Arina scoffed in amusement and laughed, "And just why would I do something like that? You think that just because I'm your daughter I'll have to do it out of love or something mushy like that?"

"Well if you don't do it out of love for your father then I'll be forced to _make _you obey me." he chuckled.

"Make me? Just how do you intend to do that?"

"By doing this." he replied, "Kirai, you know what to do." The eel from before slithered behind Arina and coiled itself around Arina's leg.

She panicked and tried to throw it off, "What is this slimy thing!? Get off!" she screeched.

"That is Kirai, she is my friend." Lord Komatsu smiled evilly as the eel tightened her grip on Arina, "Careful, she bites."

"What is wrong with you!? Why are you doing this!?"

"Because I want you to kill Inuyasha and this is the easiest way to get you to do what I want."

"But why do you want him dead!? Just what exactly will that accomplish!?"

"You see, because of him I am unable to kill his very lovely daughter."

Arina laughed, "What's that? Are you talking about Hanyuu? She's dead, idiot! What are you talking about!?"

"Oh she is, is she? Fine then, don't believe me. But would you really risk her like that?"

"She IS dead, you're lying and I know it. And anyway, how would killing Inuyasha make it easier for you to kill her even if she was alive?"

"Because that half demon's love for his daughter is so powerful that it has built up a barrier that is protecting her so I am unable to touch her soul, eliminating him would make finishing her off and consuming her a lot easier." he explained.

"And what if I told Inuyasha about all of this?" she threatened, "Then what would you do?"

"Oh that is simple, if you tell anybody about our conversation then I will simply kill that lover of yours, Ren."

"How would you know if I told anyone or not?"

"That is why I brought Kirai along with me, she will be keeping a close eye on you and will know if you open your mouth. And if she knows; I know. Our minds are connected you know."

"So what if I just killed the eel? Would you die too?"

"I'm afraid not. It's only our minds that are joined, not our senses. Well anyway, I think that I shall be going now. Take care!"

Arina growled, "You monster."

He was about to turn and take his leave before he stopped, "Oh and another thing, if you don't finish Inuyasha off quickly enough, let's say in a month, I will also kill his precious little sisters, Tomoyo and Yuki; that Hobo boy too. Travelling through that well will be no trouble if I have Hanyuu with me, I'll just have to think of an excuse to get her to go with me. Well that is all, goodbye now Arina my sweet." he grinned as he vanished into thin air.

Arina looked down at her leg to find that Kirai had also disappeared, but was she hiding in a nearby bush waiting for her to tell someone about Hanyuu, even if her father was lying could she risk Hanyuu's life?

"Arina? Are you alright?" Ren asked walking out and standing before her, "I heard shouting."

She was about to explain what had happened when she heard a faint rustle in the bushes and a hiss, she muttered awkwardly, "Um, yes. Everything is fine."

* * *

**Uh oh, Arina can't tell Inuyasha about anything! Will she kill him for Ren, Tomoyo Yuki and Hōjō's sake!? Find out in the next chapter! Review if you enjoyed! ~Happy**


	5. Arina's Dilemma

**I have been recently reading a lot of Sesshomaru x Kagome content and I seem to be slowly falling for this couple, first I read the Raindrops Doujinshi by YokaiYume on DeviantART and I am currently reading the fanfic: Tales From The House of the Moon by Resmiranda. Both stories touched me emotionally and even broke my heart a little, although I am fully aware that Sesshomaru and Kagome would not work as a canon couple it's still nice to read a little about them every now and then. Plus, some of their fanart is absolutely breathtaking! But don't worry, I still ship Inuyasha x Kagome and they are still a pair in my story. ****So thank you again for your reviews, favourites and follows and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Five

Kikyo entered Inuyasha and Kagome's hut with a bail of crushed ice and set it down beside the sleeping Kagome. She then carefully wrapped up a small handful of ice-cubes in a clean cloth and placed it gently on Kagome's forehead, hoping that it would help to rid her of her fever.

Kagome's eyelids lifted sluggishly at the cool sensation that had surfaced just above her brow, she raised her arm to feel the cold cloth and then noticed the elder priestess sitting at her bedside. "K-Kikyo? What are you...?" she whispered hoarsely.

Kikyo simply raised her finger to her lips to silence her, "Go back to sleep, Kagome. In order for you to recover from this fever, you need to rest." she whispered.

Kagome relaxed and laid back more comfortably into the futon, her stomach was ridiculously large now and it was becoming more difficult to move around every day; it didn't help that she had come down with a stupid fever either!

"How is your stomach? Does it still hurt?" Kikyo asked, peering down at the younger priestess' large belly with concern.

"No, it isn't that bad today. I mean it's swelled a little but it's not exactly painful."

"Would you mind if I took a look at it?"

"Not at all." Kagome replied she removed the futon sheet and opened the front of her kimono, revealing her bloated tummy.

Kikyo placed her palm on Kagome's stomach and rubbed it lightly, she also leant down and pressed her ear against the fleshy balloon. She could feel something stirring beneath the skin, something small and fragile; it was the faint drumming of a child's heartbeat. What? The infant was only six months old at the most but it was already fully grown and moving around in the womb. Had Hanyuu been like this too in her fetus? Were all half demon pregnancies so short compared to human ones?

Sitting up straight and putting on her usual, concealed expression she spoke gently, "Alright. Now please sleep."

Kagome smiled before closing her eyes and trying to resume her relatively pleasant slumber.

Kikyo watched her for a while longer before quietly standing and walking outside into the chilly landscape, she sat down on the step just outside of the hut and stared into the horizon: it was sunset. The sun was low and the clouds were sprayed with hot pinks and bright oranges, they looked as if they had been painted across the sky with a giant paintbrush like coloured ink on a very large canvas.

The gentle sunlight was reflecting onto the clean, white snow and dancing around the area like fairy lights or pixie-dust. It was also surprisingly warm and comfortable for such a cold winter's day which created a calm atmosphere and made Kikyo feel quite content as she closed her eyes and leant back against the outside of the wooden hut.

The faint sound of boots lightly crunching the snow beneath them as they walked over it and a familiar dominating presence caused Kikyo to smile to herself before addressing the stranger who was approaching. "Sesshomaru." she muttered.

The dog demon Lord approached her casually and glanced down at her, waiting for her to open her eyes and look up at him.

However, she did not open her eyes nor did she raise her head as she spoke again. "You were just with Inuyasha, weren't you?" she said calmly.

Sesshomaru did not reply, how on earth had she known he had wasted and entire day with his stupid half-demon brother? Had she followed him and watched him own Inuyasha with his skills from afar? No. Stalking did not really seem like the priestess' style so he pushed that possibility aside. "Yes. What of it?" he asked flatly.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she finally opened her eyes and gazed up at him, "I am just happy for the pair of you that you were able to see past your differences and finally act like a proper family."

Act like a proper family? Inuyasha and Sesshomaru? They bickered constantly and threatened to kill one another almost ever day. He decided not to comment on her last UNTRUE statement so he shifted his gaze over to the setting sun.

Kikyo chuckled silently at his pride and ego as she too looked over at the dusty horizon-line. She had been thinking about quite some time now but she had been a little unsure on who to ask, maybe Sesshomaru could put her mind at rest and cease her worrying. "May I ask you something? It has been on my mind for quite some time but I was insure on who to consult." she asked hesitantly.

He continued to stare into the golden sky but listened carefully to whatever she was about to say, he wondered just what it was that was troubling her.

"You're a powerful demon Lord who should be rather knowledgeable when it comes to demon pregnancies, aren't you? So tell me... what exactly are the symptoms when one is carrying a half-demon child?" she asked.

"Why do you ask such a thing?"

"It's about Kagome, I have been rather worried about her recently." she confessed worriedly. "Kaede told me that her sickness is a little worse than an ordinary human pregnancy, I know that maybe because of the demon blood that has been added to the mixture but it still concerns me. She is apparently not handling this baby as well as she had done with Hanyuu, the swelling and oddly shaped bruises on her stomach are also quite alarming..."

"That all sounds rather ordinary to me." Sesshomaru admitted, taking a seat beside the troubled priestess.

"Yes but, how quickly is the child supposed to develop? Because it already seems fully grown to me!" she exclaimed, "I understand that I am no expert when it comes to demon birthing and such, but I do care for Kagome more than I let on and I want to make sure that she is alright."

"Well a full demon child would grow in no time at all, I estimate in around three-four months whereas you humans take at least nine to even go into labour so it would make sense that a half-demon would develop some time in-between those two time spans." he explained calmly, "And besides, the priestess is strong, she has delivered an infant with demon blood flowing in its veins before so it should be nothing new to the woman."

"So what you are saying is that... she is going to be okay?" Kikyo asked, sounding incredibly relieved, "Oh thank goodness!"

There was a short silence which allowed Kikyo to catch her breath, Kagome was going to be fine, it was all alright. She felt even more relieved that she would not have to worry Inuyasha with any of this, in fact she decided to not bring the matter up again.

A strong arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer to Sesshomaru surprised the priestess as she glanced across at him nervously. The expression that was plastered onto his face was making her cheeks turn pink; she tried to calm herself in an attempt to reduce the redness of her face but the demon Lord did not make it easier by smirking devilishly handsome smile at her as he chuckled at her reaction to his touch. Her heart began to beat faster as his gaze became more intense, it was so loud that surely he must have been able to hear it by now.

She looked away awkwardly, trying to conceal her blush and sighed in defeat. "Oh, Sesshomaru. The things you do to me. It is a great achievement to be able to make I, Kikyo, act this way." she spoke as confidently as she could.

"But are you are not my woman now? Is it not natural for me to treat you in this way?"

"Well yes..." she whispered as he pulled her so close that she was leaning against his shoulder comfortably. She closed her eyes and nestled her nose into his white sleeve and inhaled his musky smell, it was warm and she felt quite at home.

"Well well. Are you two like a thing now then?"

The pair looked up to see Inuyasha smirking with the Tetsusaiga slung across his shoulder, he looked very amused and was chuckling slightly.

"Yes. What of it?" Sesshomaru scowled at his younger brother's annoying timing.

"I just find it ironic that how someone as stubborn and bossy as you, Sesshomaru, who originally claimed to hate humans decided to let a human girl tag along with you, and now to make things even better you're in love with a human woman!" he exclaimed before bursting out into hysterical laughter, "The irony!"

Sesshomaru snarled at his younger brother and snapped, "Silence, half-breed. Do not be such a hypocrite."

"Hypocrite!? I never said that I absolutely despised humans like you did! I just said that they were weak and annoying!" Inuyasha fought back.

"And yet you also ended up with a human woman. But at least it did not take me so many years to speak my feelings out loud, how long did it take you? Two... three years to get the guts to say 'I love you'?"

"Urgh... just... shut up, okay!"

"That was not exactly your greatest comeback, fool."

Kikyo chuckled at their immaturity as she slid away from Sesshomaru's grasp and rose to her feet. "Well, I am going to see if Kagome needs any assistance. Have fun and play nice, boys." she smiled.

* * *

Arina leapt through forests and valleys, she hurdled high cliffs and left lakes in her dust as she continued to head south. She had told Ren to keep an eye on Inuyasha whilst she went to attend to some 'business', he was a little suspicious but agreed after a little convincing. Before she even considered killing Inuyasha for her father, she needed to know if Hanyuu was actually still alive and that it wasn't just her father telling lies. For an ordinary demon even with a highly developed nose, the king's scent would be rather difficult to follow but not for Arina; being his flesh and blood made her immune to his scent masking and she was able to follow the trail which he had left behind without breaking a sweat.

If she had ever wanted to find her father in the past she would have simply looked around a little until she sensed his presence and followed his scent like she was doing now. But then again, she had never really wanted to see her father at all before now, in fact she still didn't; she was only going to find Hanyuu who was supposedly a prisoner in his dwelling. After all his years of studying and desiring the winged people, if Hanyuu was in fact still living then he should be over-joyed. Why couldn't he just study her in person and befriend her? Why did he NEED to kill her and consume her lifeforce? He already had the life span of a demon though he appeared more human than any demon man you would ever lay eyes upon, if Hanyuu had met with him then she would not have known he was a great demon overlord who long ago dared to oppose even the fiercest demon of the western lands, Inu no Taishō.

Many centuries ago when the great dog demon Lord was still around, he faced a deadly foe; an elemental demon warlord who would act as a human to gain power and wealth only to then use it to slaughter every human around for entertainment, he called himself Komatsu. An elemental demon was a creature with powers superior to most demon-kind, they could control the weather and the four seasons; they could also control people's minds and manipulate their hearts with ease. He was indeed a great threat. However, he was defeated by the dog demon, stripped of his powers and banished to the south never to enter the powerful Lord's territory again or bother any of his underlings again.

So why had he broken the agreement now? He had been laying low for so long and staying away from trouble... well, until he killed his wife. Could it be that he had been slowly regaining his powers and preparing another evil plot? If that was true then Arina really needed to hurry, and if it was a trap - she would have to think of something to get herself out of it.

* * *

_"Shun? What exactly is snow?" _Hanyuu asked curiously as she lay on her back on the frosty ground with her right hand extended up in an attempt to catch the falling white stars and examine them.

"I don't know. It's just... snow, I guess." he muttered picking up a handful from the ground from the icy rock that he was sitting on and also examining it.

A tiny flower shaped snowflake landed in the palm of her hand and rested there peacefully, she lowered her arm and brought it closer to her face so she was able to properly study it. But alas, the coldness of the small crystal was easily diminished by the heat of her palm as it quickly melted. _"But just what is it, I wonder?" _she whispered to herself.

Shun gazed down at her as she pondered about the shimmering frozen raindrops, he wondered what it was about the falling snow that fascinated her so. She looked so tranquil simply laying there in the sleet, lost in her own little world. Maybe his suspicions about Lord Komatsu had been correct, maybe his Lord WAS in love with Hanyuu after all. Well, how could Shun blame him? She really was very beautiful. Any man would be incredibly lucky to win her heart.

Speaking of which, he wondered if Hanyuu had ever been in love before herself. She would have undoubtedly have had many admirers already but had she ever harboured feelings for any of them?

She smiled to herself as she caught another tiny fallen fragment, _"You__ know, each flake almost looks like a small piece of starlight. They truly are magical creations."_

Shun was more focused on how the glint in her eyes also looked like starlight than the snowflakes with the way that they shone whenever she smiled, or how they reflected the fresh sunlight and gleaming of the snowfall.

The sound of a branch snapping a few feet away caught his attention as he sprung up and sheathed his sword defensively.

_"What is wrong?" _Hanyuu asked, lifting her head slightly and peering up at him.

"I thought I heard something." he whispered, tightening the grip on his sword, "Don't move, okay?"

She lowered her head once again and silenced, she watched Shun as he stood still and ready. There was no movement for a few minutes however the samurai did not lower his blade, he was sure that someone or something was watching and waiting until they let their guard down.

Another snap of a twig caused Shun to leap on top of Hanyuu, cover her mouth to keep her quiet and roll into a snow-coated bush in order to hide. "Shh." he whispered down to the half-demon girl beneath him as he raised his finger up against his lips, "Don't make a sound."

The two listened hard for more noises and the suspense continued to grow, Hanyuu's ears perked up trying to hear more clearly and Shun's hand tightened over her mouth.

Just when Shun was sure whoever was near was about to strike, the feeling that he was being watched left him as did the strange presence making him remove his palm from Hanyuu's face, allowing her to breathe more easily. He peered down at her and asked, "Sorry about that. You okay?"

_"Yeah, it just surprised me a little when you grabbed me and shoved me into a bush." _she giggled.

"What did you think I was going to do? Force a kiss on you or something?" he joked.

_"Well... it wouldn't be the first time that something like that has happened to me. I wouldn't be all that surprised if you did something like that."_

"Oh Hanyuu, I've already told you a million times that I don't use women for something so shallow. Why would you even think something like that?"

_"Um, can we maybe get out of this bush now if the coast is clear? It's just it's kind of uncomfortable in here."_

Shun sat up and helped Hanyuu out of the shrubbery back onto the path. He then offered her his arm and escorted her back to Komatsu's castle.

* * *

Arina relaxed as Hanyuu left for the palace with the unfamiliar samurai, she had been spying on the girl but accidentally stepped on a fallen branch and alerted her companion.

When she had first spotted the half-demon girl she had intended to jump out and embrace her happily but stopped herself when she realized that Hanyuu had 'died' just before Arina and Ren had switched sides from bad to good, if she had just popped out Hanyuu would have been afraid and the samurai would have most likely tried to slay her.

But none of that mattered right now because Hanyuu was alive! Arina could not wait to tell Inuyasha and Kagome the good news but she stopped when she remembered her father's words, _"If you tell anyone about our conversation then I will simply kill that lover of yours, Ren." _

"Damn." she cursed under her breath. If she even considered speaking of this to anyone, Ren's life would be put in danger, Tomoyo, Yuki and Hōjō's too. "You're still here too, aren't you?" she snapped down at something on the ground by her feet.

Kirai the demon eel was slithering around her feet and hissing at her. Arina sighed aggressively and snarled at her, "If you weren't stalking me then I'd be able to do something useful for once!" Kirai simply grinned an evil toothy grin.

"Ah, my little Arina! You came all this way just to visit me! You have never done this before!"

Arina snarled heavily as she locked eyes with Lord Komatsu, he chuckled and walked closer to his daughter only to have a small horde of fire shot at him which he only just avoided.

"Take it easy, my sweet. I was only greeting you like a loving father would greet his cherished daughter."

"Oh spare me your false words!" she scolded, "I thought that Hanyuu was supposed to be a prisoner! She seems pretty free and happy here to me!"

"Well she has to be comfortable if I am to get my own way."

"What exactly does that mean? 'Get your own way'?"

"If I consume her lifeforce immediately after Inuyasha is killed, the angel blood will then become scarce and there shall be no more. She needs an heir to carry on her bloodline and heritage so the solution is simple - I need to breed her; and of course I cannot do so if she does not like me."

Arina was sickened by his foul plot as she shrieked in disgust, "You filthy creature! How could you do such an awful thing to someone as pure as her!?"

"Because I'm evil, duh." he chuckled darkly.

She snarled and stepped back, now what was she supposed to do!? If she didn't go back and inform the others of what she had learned, Hanyuu would be doomed, but if she did talk then Ren would be in danger! However, she could not just leave Hanyuu here for the king to do as he pleased with her either! What in the world was she supposed to do!?

"Oh Arina, I really did not want to do this but I have no choice. You know too much." he sighed.

"What do you...?" her sentence was cut short as Kirai sunk her teeth into her leg and made her slowly lose consciousness. "Damn you..." she snarled before everything went black and she fell to the ground.

* * *

**Oh dear, Lord Komatsu wants to impregnate Hanyuu! :O NOOO! He'd better stay away from her or else! If Inuyasha finds out he's going to kill him! Leave a review if you enjoyed and thank you for reading! ~Happy **


	6. Escape

**Aaaaarrrgggghhhh! I hate English essays! They make me depressed and I cannot concentrate on them no matter what I do! So when I should have been working on my writing piece I was secretly writing this chapter, muhahahahaha! Anyway I hope that you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Six

Inuyasha sighed in annoyance as he felt the lingering presence of a certain individual, the scent had been tickling his nostrils and making his ears twitch for a while now, making it harder and harder to ignore the feeling that he was being pursued. "What do you want? Lizard boy?" he snarled loudly, recieving a low pitched chuckle from the trees behind.

Ren hopped down from his hiding place and grinned arrogantly at the half demon standing before him. "Oh, nothing." he replied, shaking his head and trying to act as innocently as he could, "I was just bored and wondered where you were slinking off to."

"I'm sure there are much more interesting people to spy on than me." Inuyasha frowned, "Why don't you go and keep Arina or someone else company?"

"Because Kagome told me that you've been disappearing out into the forest a lot recently and she thinks you're up to something, so I decided to see what it is you're doing."

"Well, you can tell her that I'm just busy and I'll be back later. Now get lost!"

Ren raised an eyebrow in suspicion and stated jokingly, "Just busy, eh? You must really like trekking around in three meters of snow every day just for fun then. You can fool everyone else but you can't fool me that easily, Inuyasha. I _will_ find out what you're up to sooner or later."

Inuyasha let out a low growl from the back of his throat and glared at the young man with fiery red hair. "Changing the subject, I don't suppose you've seen Sesshomaru have you?" he asked.

"I regret to say that I haven't. But why ever would you be wondering where your elder brother is right now? From what I heard from the fox boy, you two aren't exactly the _best _of friends. I don't suppose that he too is in on this secret of yours, is he?"

"Urgh! Will you shut up! There is no secret!" Inuyasha snapped at him, the Dragon's persistence was beginning to irritate him and he desperately wanted to run so that he was far away from his spying eyes.

A loud tiresome sigh silenced the pair as they turned their heads to see Sesshomaru leaning against a frosty tree trunk with an expression of true boredom plastered onto his face, he appeared to have been waiting there for a while now. "Finished so soon, are we?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"There he is, Inuyasha. _He_ came looking for _you_." Ren chuckled, "Now be good little doggies and tell me what's going on."

Ignoring Ren's command, Sesshomaru addressed Inuyasha, "Draw your sword, little brother." he ordered firmly.

Inuyasha drew his gaze away from Ren and chuckled confidently, "I think it'd be a better idea for you to draw _yours_ first!" he jeered.

Sesshomaru unsheathed Bakuseiga and held it in front of him in a sinister manor, "As you wish, half breed."

Ren snarled at the fact they had simply ignored him like that, what bad little doggies they were! He made a mental note to ask Kagome to sit Inuyasha later for his rudeness, and as for Sesshomaru? He would get Rin to punish him somehow, she could tease him over his relationship with Kikyo again! He didn't like that!

Inuyasha pulled out the Tetsusaiga and held it out in front of him just like his brother and laughed arrogantly, "You're going to hell for sure!" he shouted.

Ren was confused, so they were only sparring? There was no secret? Was that all they had been up to for these past few weeks? Maybe after losing his first pup, Inuyasha felt that he needed to become stronger for his new one so he asked Sesshomaru to be his training partner? That made sense a little but why did they feel the need to come this far away from the village? Probably to avoid being seen not attempting to kill one another.

"Save your words." Sesshomaru spoke in monotone before lunging at Inuyasha with his sword only to strike the hard earth as Inuyasha leaped out of the way just in time.

"You're getting a little rusty, Sesshomaru. You really must be getting old, you move just like Kaede!" he teased as he landed beside a frozen tree stump that had been chopped down a couple of weeks ago by Miroku who had needed more wood to make a new table as Setsuko had trashed the other in her tantrum simply because Sango would not allow her to play in her new best kimono. Ah, children.

"Silence. You are the one who requires more training, not I." he snarled, running over to him and striking again.

After jumping out of the way and up high above his older brother, Inuyasha held Tetsusaiga up above his head and swung it down at Sesshomaru screaming, "WIND SCAR!"

The streams of large demonic energy slashed down in the dog demon Lord's direction only to be reflected by Bakuseiga's sheath. Sesshomaru had borrowed this technique from Inuyasha when he saw him using Tetsusaiga's sheath to deflect an attack in the past. When the energy was eventually diminished, Sesshomaru nodded his head slightly in approval and muttered, "Not bad."

Ren jumped out of the brothers line of fire and sat in a tree to watch them, he wondered why Arina had wanted him to keep an eye on Inuyasha whilst she went away somewhere. Just what was it she had wanted him to do? What exactly could she gain from him observing the half demon? Although he wasn't quite sure what it was, something told him told him that he wasn't stalking Inuyasha to gain information or attack him; he was beginning to believe that Arina wanted him well protected. But surely he could look after _himself_ adequately enough? And he had Sesshomaru with him too who was twice as powerful as he was, so why would he need _Ren_ to help? Unless she wanted everything reported back to her. He sighed and slumped down in the tree branches, preparing for a long day of watching this game of swordplay.

* * *

The sickeningly sweet scent of burning incense tickling at Arina's nostrils caused her to open her eyes sluggishly, when her vision cleared she studied her surroundings. She was laid in a large king sized bed with purple velvet curtains in a huge room that smelled of roses and lilies, the smell was so strong Arina felt the need to cover her nose and bury her face into the bed sheets before she realized that they too were strongly scented.

"Good day to you, miss. I take it that you had an adequate enough rest?" came a woman's voice from the side of the bed.

Arina shifted her gaze to the right to see a serving woman with kind amber eyes smiling down at her. "And you are...?" she asked quietly as her voice sore for some reason.

"Oh I do apologize! Forgive me for not introducing myself, Lady Arina!" she pleaded, bowing her head with respect, "My name is Ai."

"How do you know who I am?" she asked curiously, only to regret speaking again as she realized that she had an awful headache that throbbed whenever she used her voice.

"Everyone here knows who _you _are, miss." she smiled, "You are our Lord's only daughter whom he lost many years ago. He often speaks of you and often prayed that you should return to him someday, and now you have!"

"Oh." Arina croaked resting her head back down on the soft bed and looking up at the cream coloured ceiling. So her father had been playing the nice guy and made everyone believe that he had not killed his wife and then tried to kill her. He really was a crafty man.

Just as Ai was about to stand and leave Arina reached out and grabbed her arm rather suddenly, alarming her. "Um, yes miss?" she asked shyly.

"Tell me..." she started, "Is there... a young girl here in this castle? Half demon to be specific?" she asked dryly.

"Do you mean Mistress Hanyuu? Our Lord's concubine?" she asked.

"CONCUBINE?" Arina practically screamed as she sat up swiftly and grabbed both of Ai's shoulders fiercely, "When you say concubine, do you mean... CONCUBINE?"

Ai trembled at the young woman's sudden mood swing as she stuttered, "W-Well actually, I should say concubine _to be _as he has yet to propose the matter to her. Everyone was informed but we were ordered not to tell her under any circumstances."

"YOU MEAN THAT HE HAS AUDACITY TO BROADCAST TO EVERYONE THAT SHE BELONGS TO HIM WHEN SHE HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF HIS CLAIM WHATSOEVER!?" she shouted louder, tightening her grip on Ai's shoulders and unintentionally digging her nails into the human woman's flesh.

Ai whimpered in pain and squeezed her eyes shut in fear, Arina paused when she realized she was hurting the woman and let her hands drop quickly. "I'm sorry! I really am! Forgive me!" she pleaded, panicking.

The servant simply smiled falsely, "Oh no, it is _me _that should be apologizing, mistress!" she replied shaking her hands frantically, "I did not mean to provoke you so!"

Arina felt bad at taking her anger out on the innocent servant before her, it was not her fault that her father was so vile and low after all. "So... what's this concubine thing?" she asked more calmly this time.

"Yes, miss." she nodded, "It all began when the master discovered her and one of our guards in the castle temple consulting the head priest on something, he fell for her charms instantly and planned to make her his."

"But why not make her his wife? A concubine is simply a relationship between a wealthy man of high authority and a woman of his choice that is... well... sexual." she winced at the last word that came out of her mouth. She knew the answer to that question herself. Like he had told her previously, he only planned to 'breed' her in order to carry on the winged bloodline. It was inevitable that when she had birthed him a healthy child or two he would just kill her off without a second thought.

"That I do not know, maybe he does intend to make her his bride later on?" Ai suggested.

Arina snorted, like that would happen; what exactly was wrong with these people? Were they blind or something? He was clearly a monster with evil intentions! True it was almost impossible for a mere human to realize that he was a demon but surely SOMEONE had noticed or even been a little suspicious of him before... unless he had killed them off too.

She needed to warn Hanyuu of this mess, but how? The half demon was unaware that she was on Inuyasha's side now so she would not trust her so easily. But what about the guard? Maybe she could convince him and then he would help Hanyuu to believe her story? It was not an amazing plan but it was the best she could come up with at the moment. "Who the guard who was accompanying her in the castle temple? And where is he now?" she asked.

"His name is Shun, he is usually with Hanyuu acting as her own personal guard. It gets lonely here in this huge palace and one can never be too careful when it comes to ones you care about." she replied honestly.

Excellent, she had located him... sort of. She just needed to know where Hanyuu was now to find the pair of them. It was like hitting two birds with one stone, only without hitting them with a stone... and they weren't birds either... okay it wasn't really like that at all. "So where abouts in the castle is the girl right now? she asked, trying to sound curious and innocent.

"Her room in the northern part of the castle, it is on the lower floor and leads right out into the palace gardens. Why do you ask?"

"Oh... why? Um, I..." she stuttered awkwardly. Great. Just great. Now what was she supposed to say? What excuse would cover for her nosy ways? "I... wanted to pay her a visit!" she exclaimed, "Yes! That's why I wanted to know!"

Ai's expression changed to one of worry as he stuttered shyly, "I'm sorry but the Lord ordered that she not be disturbed. Shun is the only exception as she needs company and someone to look after her."

"I see..." she said disappointingly. Damn, getting to the girl was going to be real challenge now. Her father truly was no fool and was doing everything in his power to keep her away from Hanyuu, how perplexing. But why should something as little as that stop her? She leapt from the bed in a flash and grabbed the fresh kimono that was laid across the bed sheets. Wasting no time, she threw off her sleeping kimono and jumped into the new one much to Ai's surprise as she simply stood staring in astonishment.

"Um, miss?" she stuttered, "What are you...?"

Now properly dressed and combing her long plum coloured hair with her fingers, Arina turned to Ai and spoke loudly, "I would like to go and take a stroll in the gardens!"

"But it is cold and the ground is covered in snow, would you not prefer to stay inside?"

"Nope! I want to go outside!"

"... Very well then, mistress. I shall accompany you around the gardens." she sighed in defeat.

"Oh no! I would not want to trouble you and I would very much prefer to go alone!" she insisted, "I will be fine! Don't worry about!"

"But..."

"But nothing! Now run along to... wherever it is that you run along to when someone tells you to do so."

Ai nodded and bowed her head respectfully before leaving the room at last. If Hanyuu's room lead out into the gardens like she had said then surely she would be able to reach the room from the outside! Well, even if it didn't work it was something to go on. But how to avoid Hanyuu recognizing her? She needed a disguise!

* * *

Hanyuu was bored.

Shun was out sparring with the other guards of the castle so she was now alone with nothing to do but sit around on her backside.

Well that was not entirely true but she had already done everything that she could think to occupy herself with so far: first she had lit some incense only to extinguish it immediately due to the foul scent it had emitted, she had painted a large picture of the sky on a canvas which was now drying on the other side of the room, she had played with the face powders and lip coloring's that Ai had left for her and she had also made a blue paper fan which she was using to fan herself; however, since it was winter and a fan was used to cool a person when they were hot, it was practically useless and making it had been a waste of her time.

She sighed aggressively from the hard floor on which she was laying and rolled over onto her other side, she yawned as she created even more wind with the fan and directed it onto her face.

_"Mom. Dad."_ she whispered to herself, _"I wonder what you're doing right now."_

"Well I don't know about Kagome but Inuyasha is probably chewing on a bone or a slab of meat like mutts usually do."

The sudden voice from behind alarmed her as she sat up instantly and pointed the fan imagining that it was Sō'unga at whoever had spoken. She smiled widely at first as she thought it was Shun but her expression changed instantly when she realized that his hair was black and in a higher ponytail than Shun's was, she was about to scream for Ai before she paused and studied him properly. When she realized who he was she sighed in relief and shrieked happily, _"Kōga!"  
_

The wolf demon chuckled as he threw off his samurai outfit and laughed, "Hey there, mini mutt."

She beamed at him happily before pondering and asking, _"Wait, what are you even doing here? And aren't you surprised that I aren't um... you know? Dead?"_

"Well, it's kind of a funny story actually." he started, "You see, I was on my way to pay Kagome and mutt-face a visit when I overheard that Arina woman talking with this guy who she called father in the woods. So I hid in a tree and eavesdropped for a while. Her father was saying that he had you in his castle or something and she was freaking out over the fact that you were still alive as was I at the time, she was going to tell Inuyasha about you but he knocked her out before she could and made off with her."

_"What? You mean to say that Arina isn't evil anymore?" _she asked in confusion.

"Nope, she and Ren switched sides right at the end. Smart choice if you ask me."

_"So if she's with you, why didn't you try to help her?"_

"I uh... I thought it would be wiser if I followed the guy, that way I could save both her and you at the same time."

_"Well, I guess that does make sense..." _she muttered, _"But how did you get in here without being killed?"_

"Easy, I knocked out this samurai round near the back entrance and stole his clothes. He didn't put up much of a fight though and he didn't seem to mind that I was removing his clothes, I think he may have been a homosexual or something, not that that's a bad thing or anything. But gee, it sure is hard being as attractive as I am; I get men AND women after me!" he joked.

He coughed awkwardly when Hanyuu did not laugh at his humor so he shrugged it off, her response made him feel even more awkward. _"So you're telling me that there is a man somewhere outside without any clothes on because you stripped them from him with your bare hands?" _she asked.

"...Erm... yes?" he nodded hesitantly, smiling falsely and laughing slightly.

_"Wow, and I thought it was Miroku who was the hormonally active one. Only he goes after just women but it looks like you don't really have a gender preference." _she muttered making him shake his head frantically.

"Hey!" he protested, "It isn't like that!"

Before Hanyuu could make a sarky comment, she was stopped by the sliding of the screen leading to the outside. A woman wearing a long red veil slithered in and grabbed Hanyuu's hands much to hers and Kōga's surprise.

"You must leave, Hanyuu!" she said squeezing the half demon's hands tighter, "You cannot stay here any longer!"

_"Um, who are you? And how do you know my name? Have we met before?" _Hanyuu asked as the woman continued to hold her hands.

"Oh come on Arina, get that stupid piece of silk off now." Kōga sighed, pulling the veil away to reveal a rather shocked looking Arina.

"W-Wha...?" she stuttered, "How did you...?"

"Uh, this thing is kind of see-through, you know?" he pointed out as he held the translucent veil up, "You should have just thrown a sheet over your head and pretended to be a ghost."

"Right..." she said in embarrassment. Now Hanyuu knew who she was she would undoubtedly call for help so now she was doomed, damn that stupid wolf. If it weren't for him then... hold on. Just what was he doing here anyway? No-one else knew of Hanyuu's location or the fact that she was even alive so how had he got here? "What exactly are you doing here, wolf?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh yeah, I followed you after your father kidnapped you." he replied bluntly.

"Really? You didn't even consider helping me?" she asked, rather surprised at his brutal honesty, "Or informing Inuyasha and the others of my kidnapping?"

_"That's what I said." _Hanyuu nodded in agreement.

"Stop ganging up on me you two!" he snapped, "I did what was right at the time!"

Arina was about to fight back when she remembered Hanyuu, why was she still not trembling in fear because of her? She looked down at the girl and asked, "Um, Hanyuu? Why haven't you freaked out over me switching sides? You still think I'm evil, don't you?"

_"I did." _she nodded, _"But Kōga showed up literally a few seconds before you did and explained the full story to me."_

"He did, did he? Looks like he does have his uses then."

"Shut up lady!" he snapped, "Anyway, come on! We have to go now!

Hanyuu was confused, why did they have to leave? Despite how boring it was, it seemed relatively safe here aside from Lord Komatsu but it was warm and she had Shun to keep her company. She didn't really want to leave that much. _"Do we have to go?"_ she asked sweetly, _"It's just that I quite like it here."_

"Do you _want_ to get jiggy with the Lord of this castle?" Kōga asked bluntly.

_"Jiggy?" _she asked, _"What ever do you mean?"_

"Let me translate what he is trying to say for you." Arina sighed at his weird phrasing, "Basically my father wants to make you his concubine in order for you to birth a child, you see without an heir the winged blood will run out and he cannot take your lifeforce if there is no more to consume."

_"WHAAT?" _Hanyuu practically screamed in horror.

"It's true, mini mutt." Kōga nodded, "That's why you gotta get out of here as quickly as possible."

With that news, Hanyuu no longer had any complaints about leaving this castle. She only wished that Shun were here so that he could come along with her. _"Um... could we possibly wait for Shun to return so that he can accompany us too?" _she suggested, _"He's an incredibly skilled swordsman and he's a very reliable ally."_

"Sorry kiddo, but we don't have any time to waste." Kōga shook his head sadly, "We can't afford to wait any longer in case that creepy Lord comes checking up on you and finds us here."

Hanyuu sighed in disappointment and nodded, she had become rather fond of the young samurai's company and leaving him behind saddened her; but if it was for the best then nothing could be done. And after all he had done for her, the least she could do to repay him was to keep him safe by not involving him any further.

The three slid open the door to the snowy gardens and trekked out into the harsh cold, it was almost nightfall and it was beginning to snow heavily. Hanyuu's thick four layered kimono was making it incredibly difficult to walk in so Kōga sighed and slung her over his shoulder, this would speed things up rapidly and increase their chances of escaping unnoticed.

Arina glanced back at the lantern lit castle and wondered how long it would take for her father to realize that Hanyuu was gone, would he come after her? Of course he would! What a stupid question to ask herself! Snapping out of her thoughts, she shouted over to Kōga, "Hey wolf! Aren't you cold in that ridiculous skimpy outfit? Cause I know I am in this layered one that I'm wearing!"

"Not at all!" he shouted back, "Besides, Kagome's green and white garment that she used to wear was waaaaay skimpier than this! It literally ONLY just covered her bottom half! Well it didn't do that job whenever she was in battle or falling." He chuckled to himself at the memory of Kagome's short skirt... and the lovely view that it blessed everyone with occassionally.

_"You and Miroku must get along really well." _Hanyuu muttered to herself. He would have gotten along well with Onigumo too if he'd ever met him... She shook her head vigourously and bashed it against Kōga's shoulder, trying to shake the bandit out of her head which was not working (she was giving Kōga bruises if anything).

"Stop!" Arina shouted over the howling of the wind, "We're being followed!"

"Followed? By who?" Kōga shouted, sniffing the freezing air, "I can't smell anything! Are you sure?"

"DUCK!" she screamed.

Kōga did as she said just in time to avoid the demon eel, Kirai lunging at him with her teeth bared. She plunged into the deep snow and slithered around underneath it like a worm in the dirt only to leap back out at Kōga once again. He punched her in the face, sending her plummeting back into the snow where she snaked around unaffected by his fist.

"Can someone tell me how the hell a frigging eel is moving around without any water!?" Kōga yelled, kicking her slimy body when she came up and aimed for his arm.

"Don't ask me!" Arina shrieked, "She's been stalking me for hours now, waiting for me to make my move!"

"Make your move? What on earth are you going on about!?"

"My father told me that if I didn't kill Inuyasha, he would kill Ren and his sisters along with Hōjō! If I said or did anything related to Hanyuu then this demon eel would inform my father of what I'd done!"

Kōga punched Kirai with a great force sending her flying as he shouted, "But why does he want you to kill mutt-face? What will he gain from it?"

"He told me that his love is protecting Hanyuu! With him still around, my father can't touch her!"

Hanyuu's heart palpitated at the mention of her father as it yearned for him, simply catching a quick glimpse of him again would be enough for her now, she wanted to see him and her mother more than anything.

Kirai sprung out of the snow from behind the wolf demon and aimed for Hanyuu's neck.

"BEHIND YOU!" cried an unfamiliar voice from a couple of feet away.

Kōga spun around and held out his fist as it collided forcefully with Kirai's face sending her back into the snow where she slithered away, her mouth was bleeding badly and she had lost a few fangs in the impact. The wolf demon put Hanyuu down to examine his hand which had eel teeth stuck fast in his knuckles, he began pulling them out making disgusted noises with every pull.

Hanyuu looked over to where the strange voice that had warned them had originated from, she gasped happily at what she saw. Standing in the snow panting heavily, with his sword in his right arm: was Shun. He looked as if he had been dragged through a bush backwards and then ran five miles, but then again she probably looked like that too. _"Shun!" _she exclaimed happily as she ran to his side only to trip over the bottom of her kimono and land face-first in the deep snow. _"Ouchie." _she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her squished nose.

Shun knelt down and offered her his hand, "I see that your grace has not improved since we last met." he chuckled.

_"No not really." _she giggled, taking his hand and rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

Arina stared at the young samurai and assumed that he must have been the guard who accompanied her into the castle in the first place, did that mean that he was a friend and not a foe?

_"How did you find us?"_ Hanyuu asked him, now on her feet.

"I followed that eel that attacked you whilst you were bathing a couple of days ago."

"So she _was_ following you." Kōga said to Arina who nodded at him.

Arina sneezed violently, "Now not to change the subject but is there anywhere that we could shelter until this storm blows over?"

_"Yes, I agree. It is pretty cold out here." _Hanyuu nodded.

Kōga sniffed around and squinted his eyes in an attempt to see through the blizzard that was beginning to stir, "If I'm correct, the southern wolf tribe's den should be around here somewhere. I just have to catch a whiff of them but that's going to be a little tricky in this weather."

_"There is wolf scent coming from that direction." _Hanyuu shouted, shielding her face with her kimono sleeves from the biting of the chilly wind.

"What?" Kōga asked in confusion before he too caught the scent of wolves, "Oh, so there is. Good job, mini mutt." He was surprised that a _half _demon had caught the smell of his own kind before he, a full demon had but that didn't matter right now, all they needed at the moment was shelter.

It was Shun this time that lifted Hanyuu, saving Kōga the trouble before the group took large strides through the deep sea of snow towards the smell of fur and warmth, praying that it was the wolves den and not a demon's lair.

* * *

"Are you guys ever going to call it a day and head back indoors?" Ren complained as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's swords continued to clash, "You've been at this for hours and it looks like there's a blizzard on its way!"

The two brothers landed on the soft snow and sheathed their blades. Sesshomaru nodded at his younger brother with an expression that looked relatively pleased for him. "Not bad at all." he said flatly which Inuyasha assumed to be a compliment.

"Not bad yourself." Inuyasha grinned, "But you need a _little_ more work before you're perfect."

"Silence, half breed. Kindly remember that it is _you _who is practicing, not I."

"Yeah yeah. You just keep thinking that you fight like a god." he teased.

"GUYS!" Ren practically shouted, catching the two's attention as they shot him irritated glares.

So he has been observing all this time?" Sesshomaru muttered to Inuyasha, "Is that the scent of a stalker I smell?"

"Yeah you said it." he whispered back, nodding.

Ren was growing tired of their annoying ways and he was considering leaving for the village on his own, despite Arina's orders that he keep watch over the half demon. He felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw the two begin walking in the way of the village as he followed after them, however he was left behind in their dust as they seemed to be racing back. How incredibly childish of them, Ren had expected at least Sesshomaru to act a little mature but they really were both as bad as each other! Not that he could blame them though, they had not exactly had enjoyable childhoods and they had had a bad history together as siblings; living up to it now seemed a perfectly logical and understanding thing to do. Ren knew that if he could do the same with Tomoyo and Yuki, he would without a doubt.

* * *

**End of the chapter! Aw, Inu and Sesshy bonding there ^.^ What do we think of Lord Komatsu and his plans on making Hanyuu his woman? And know that Kirai has seen Arina acting against her father and undoubtedly told him of what she had witnessed, what will he do? Will he stay true to his word and go after Ren, Hōjō, Tomoyo and Yuki? Read on to find out and review if you enjoyed! ~Happy**


	7. Akane, Sweet Akane

**Aw thank you all for your lovely reviews, I really do appreciate the time that you take to read this story. Enjoy the chapter, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Seven

It had been two days since Arina had left to attend to her secretive mission, and the snow was falling heavier by the hour. Ren was worried that something bad could have happened to her, it was unlike her to take so long on accomplishing a task that he had assumed was easy enough for her to handle alone but now he was beginning to consider the possibility that she may be in grave danger. Should he go searching for her? True, she had ordered him to stay behind and watch over Inuyasha, but surely the half demon would be alright with his friends nearby; and besides it wasn't like there was anyone around that posed a major threat to the group any more. Naraku had been defeated for good, and he and Arina had switched sides just at the last minute - a rather wise choice if he did say so himself.

"Um, mister Ren?"

He peered down from the high tree branch from which he was sitting to see one of the monk and the demon slayer's twin daughters (though he could not tell which one) standing at the foot of the tree and staring up at him. "What is it, twin number... uh? Never mind, is something wrong?" he asked, looking down and meeting her slightly concerned gaze. He had forgotten how to tell the two twins apart from one another since they looked so incredibly similar, and he had also forgotten the different coloured kimonos that separated one girl from the other.

Instead of answering him, she placed her hands on the icy trunk of the tall tree and attempted to crawl up to where Ren was sitting; before sliding straight back down and landing on her backside in a pile of snow. "Ow," she grunted, rubbing her now dirtied bottom, "That was rather shocking."

Ren sighed as she once again twisted her arms around the slippery bark coated skyscraper and pulled herself up far enough to reach the first sturdy branch, she let out a sigh of relief and put a hand to her heart, feeling the fast beating of a samba against her palm.

"Need a hand?" Ren asked, leaning down a little and offering her his left hand whilst his other secured him firmly to the higher branch, "Or do you want to fall on your face this time?"

She smiled and took it gratefully, he hauled her up and placed her down on the strong branch beside him where she clung to his arm because of the intimidating height. Her pink rosy kimono was now a pale dusty colour and dripping because of the dirt and snow that she had previously fallen onto and the red obi was slightly torn. Ren snorted, that's what she got for throwing herself around like a rag doll in such a fragile costume that was made for sitting in and looking pretty. Curly brunette locks of hair fell into her dark, chocolatey brown eyes causing her to lift her small hand and brush them away. However, the bangs simply continued to fall back into place, making her repeat the action of moving them. The cycle continued for a while and Ren found it strangely hypnotic - who would have known that watching a little girl play with her hair could be so fascinating to observe?

He coughed loudly which caught her attention and ceased her hair meddling, "Was there something in particular that you wanted from me?" he asked.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," she smiled widely - a grin that reminded him of the slayer's, "You look a little sad and I haven't seen you with miss Arina for a few days. Are you two okay? Did you get into a fight or something?"

"No, uh. Not exactly," he replied hesitantly, unsure on how to phrase the situation and his ponderings to a five year old, "She just said that she had to go away for a little while but she hasn't come back yet, so I'm sort of worried about her. That's all it is."

"Did she go away _because _you had a fight?" she asked earnestly.

"Not really, we always have our little disagreements; this one wasn't really anything big but there was something different about her when she left, I could feel it."

"Don't worry, sir!" she chirped cheerfully. "Uncle Inuyasha and auntie Kagome get into little arguments all the time, but they always kiss and make up afterwards," she shifted closer to him and grinned strangely with a small glint in her eye, "and I'm not kidding about the kiss part, I've _seen _them do it. IN PUBLIC." she emphasized that last part as her grin widened, "I spied on them with Kohaku and Rin - we were playing secret agents."

Ren raised his eyebrow at the little girl and teased, "You have, have you? Forget secret agents, you sound more like creepy fangirls to me."

She pouted and raised her head haughtily, eyes closed and huffing. He chuckled again making her peek across at him with one eye, scowling. "And what is so funny, sir?" she asked as his laughter increased much to her frustration, "Well? Spit it out!"

He calmed his amusement and glanced over at the scornful look she was giving him. "You know you really shouldn't look at people like that," he tutted whilst shaking his head in disappointment, "it's rude and a frown like that simply doesn't suit a pretty little face such as yours in the slightest. You should smile instead, like you were doing before; it makes you look a lot cuter."

After seriously considering his comment, she softened her expression to its usual sweet one and returned to the original topic, "So are you going to wait for Arina to come back or are you going to go look for her?"

He lifted his hand and allowed his fingers to rub his stubbly chin as he decided on what to do, surely it wouldn't hurt it he only left Inuyasha for a _little _while? He wouldn't be alone and he would be well protected; and besides, just what kind of trouble could a half dog demon like him get into in such a short amount of time? None of course, good. Then it was settled - he would depart shortly and follow Arina's scent (it was a good thing that he and Arina were a mated pair, therefore he would be able to easily follow her scent, which was usually quite a hassle for any ordinary human or demon. Like Komatsu, she too of course could mask her scent if she so desired to like the very first time that Hanyuu was kidnapped as a newly born pup).

He glanced down at the little girl who was smiling cheerfully at him, "Thanks, little lady. I think I'll go find her after all." he smiled.

"Good for you," she smiled, "I'll cover for you here if you want?"

"Thanks."

She giggled, both surprising and confusing him as he wondered just what she could be laughing at. "What's so funny?" he asked curiously, "Do I have something on my face?"

"No," she laughed again, "It's just smiling and having a relatively civilized conversation with you after you kidnapped my siblings and I seems pretty weird, it doesn't suit _you_!"

With that last statement, she clung onto the thickest tree branches and slowly made her way back down to the base of the tree. Ren was pretty surprised at the fact that she had made it down successfully without falling or stumbling on the way, he chuckled to himself as the little girl below scowled up at him guessing just what was on his mind. She had just begun to walk back to the village when she stopped and turned to glance back up at him, she hesitated before speaking but she eventually shouted up to him, "Hey? Do you... know which one I am?" She was obviously testing his ability to tell her apart from her sister and she was rather eager to know if he could tell the difference between them.

He rubbed his chin once again and grinned to himself, "You're... Akane," he answered after a short moment of thinking, "Am I right?"

A small smile tugged at her lips as she spun away from him with her hands behind her back, "...I'm not telling!" she replied in a sing-song voice before skipping off back home to her family.

Ren chuckled to himself, she reminded him ever so slightly of Arina when she had been younger, when they had first met - so sweet and innocent.

* * *

"Oh Kirai, my poor lovely Kirai." Lord Komatsu cooed as he ran his hand down the slimy skin of the demon eel's skin in a soothing manor, "So a meddling wolf demon did this to you, you say? How incredibly bothersome. As if eliminating the half demon, Inuyasha wasn't enough trouble already? Now another problem added to my problem platter, I shall be needing two platters soon!"

Kirai hissed in pleasure as her master's hand continued to shift up and down her long, coiled form. Her front fangs had been smashed clean out of her mouth by the cursed wolf, and although it would not take long for new ones to grow it still hurt.

"Since Arina has finally taken action in the whole Hanyuu scenario, I think it's time that we had some fun, don't you?" he asked Kirai as she sniggered in agreement, "It's finally time to bring in our extra chess pieces. Using the powers that you sucked from Hanyuu whilst she was bathing we shall go to the 'Bone Eaters Well' and use the power of a winged being to pass through the portal within the shaft. And then, we can... 'greet' those lovely red-headed sisters and the Hobo boy too." He burst out into malicious laughter as he thought about his devious plan.

* * *

Small clonks and clanks were emitting from the weapons storehouse as Setsuko stopped at the entrance of the large shed, staring at it intensely. She had been looking for Akane, who had been missing for the majority of the day and oddly enough, it didn't seem as if anyone had seen her. Her parents were busy exterminating demons and Hiroshi was playing with Jaken and Ah-Un, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had vanished like they usually did so asking them was not even an option, Kikyo and Kagome were in the hut pleasantly chatting about cooking rice and neither of them had seen Akane either, Kaede and Jirou were getting a foot rub from Rin and Kohaku who seemed to be _flirting, _and Shippo was away taking the fox demon exam.

So if everyone was already occupied with something and there was no reason for any of the villagers to require an army weapon at this moment in time, just WHO was in there making such a ruckus? Could it be Akane? But what ever could her twin be doing in such a place?

Setsuko let the door slide open slightly as she peered in through the small gap, a small girl was looking around for something and moving the swords and other weapons around; it looked like Akane. "Sis!? What are you doing?" Setsuko asked suspiciously as her twin shrieked in fright and hid something behind her back.

"S-Setsuko!" she snapped in fright, "Give me some warning before you jump out on me like that! Gee, a face like that should come with a warning!"

"Uh, Akane... we have the same face," Setsuko said raising an eyebrow, "Were identical twins, remember?"

Akane laughed awkwardly, "Oh, of course we do!"

Setsuko glanced across at her sister's hands which seemed to be clutching something tightly that she did not want anyone to see. "What have you got there, Akane?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and attempting to catch a glimpse at whatever was behind the other girl's back that she was being so secretive about.

"Nothing!" she shrieked in panic, slowly edging towards the exit of the weapons storehouse and away from her twin sister's prying eyes. She did not want her sister to know that she intended to follow Ren on his hunt for Arina, no-one could know as they would definitely try to stop her, they would lecture her on how she was only a child and that it was too dangerous.

"If it's nothing why are you hiding it behind your back?" Setsuko teased, jumping over to get a quick glance at the secret object, "Come on, show me!"

"No, go away!" she shouted, running towards the exit as fast as her tiny legs could carry her; but of course her sister was not going to give up so easily.

Setsuko ran after her twin screaming, "You get back here now, stupid! Stop being so unfair and show me what you've got!"

* * *

"Oh, Kikyo. Just what _is _all of that bothersome noise?" Kagome groaned as she rubbed her temples and shifted the futon sheets in distress, she already had a throbbing headache.

The older priestess lifted her head in the direction of the hut's exit and listened to the shouting outside. "I believe that there is an argument of some sort occuring out there. Please remain calm, I shall go and see what is taking place." she said standing and leaving for the harsh winter cold.

She studied the vicinity and eventually noticed the monk and demon slayer's twin daughters running around and screaming at each other in frustration and bitterness. Kikyo sighed as she strolled over to the angered children in an attempt to resolve the situation.

When Akane and Setsuko saw the priestess slowly approaching them, they let go of each other's arms and ceased kicking one another instantly. When the respectable woman reached them, she knelt down and spoke gently, "Hello Akane, Setsuko. Can I ask why the two of you are fighting so viciously?"

"She's got something behind her back and she won't show me what it is!" Setsuko yelled, pointing at her sister who scolded and pulled out her tongue.

Kikyo turned to the eldest of the twins and asked her calmly, "Akane? What do you have behind your back? Does it belong to you or did you take it from elsewhere?"

Akane stepped back and clutched the item tighter, she had been caught, now what was she supposed to do? Give in and admit that she was planning to follow the Dragon in the hopes of being some help to him? She sighed miserably and slowly revealed what she had been trying so badly to conceal.

Kikyo and Setsuko's eyes widened slightly at what they saw. "Hey," Setsuko muttered in surprise, "Isn't that... Lord Sesshomaru's sword?"

"Tenseiga..." Kikyo whispered as she carefully studied the blade in the little girl's grasp. Just how had Akane managed to get her hands on the Tenseiga!? Sesshomaru hardly ever let go of it! It should be tucked into his yellow belt along with Bakuseiga. "Akane," she started hesitantly, "How did you manage to... obtain this sword?"

"Yeah!?" Setsuko agreed nodding her head frantically, "He's like the most careful guy around here! It doesn't seem like him to go leaving his sword around like Inuyasha does!"

Akane shifted from side to side awkwardky, "I just..." she started quietly, "I just wanted to help Ren find Arina." She looked down sadly, "I thought that if I borrowed Lord Sesshomaru's sword when he put it down when he left with Inuyasha, I could be of some use to Ren and I wouldn't be as weak."

Kikyo felt guilty, the girl's intentions were good, she had taken the sword in order to help the Dragon despite the consequences and Sesshomaru's wrath. "But Tenseiga is a blade that cannot cut," she explained softly, "it was designed to _save _lives, not take them away. It would be useless in battle."

"Oh. Well... here you go then, Lady Kikyo." she said handing the fang to the priestess, smiling sweetly, "If you could give this back to Lord Sesshomaru and tell him that I apologize maybe he will not be as angry with me. I did not take it to be spiteful, I swear."

Kikyo smiled at the young girl as she accepted the sword and stroked her head affectionately, "He will not be angry with you, in fact he does not need to know of this little incident. We shall keep it a secret." she winked, raising a finger to her lips.

Akane looked at the priestess gratefully and sighed in relief. Setsuko nudged her arm and teased, "Why did you want to help Ren anyway? Do you have a crush on him?"

"No I do not!" Akane snapped, horrified that she would even suggest something like that.

"Oh of course, I forgot." Setsuko giggled, "You only have eyes for Shippo, isn't that right?"

Akane's face turned as pink as her kimono as she covered her ears with her hands and shrieked in embarrassment, "Lalalala! I'm not listening! Lalala!"

Kikyo smiled at the twins before rising to her feet and walking in the direction of the weapons storehouse where she would place Tenseiga in order for Sesshomaru to find as if nothing had ever happened to it.

Before she could open the doors and enter the large shed, she paused and spun around swiftly. She could sense something in the forest, and whatever it was, it didn't feel friendly. With the Tenseiga still firmly in her grip, she walked towards the forest following the strangely familiar presence.

* * *

Kagome opened her eyes slowly and sat up in her futon, she could sense something - something... new, yet old. What was it? Simply wondering would not satisfy her curiousity, so carefully holding her bloated belly, she rose to her feet (something that she had not done in many weeks) and staggered towards the exit of the hut using her bow as a crutch.

Maybe going outside in such a bad condition was not the best idea but Kagome decided that she could not lay sleeping every day until she gave birth, she had been itching for something interesting to happen: like for a demon to show up that she could purify. Her spiritual powers had not been used in months so the magic was beginning to clog and gather at her fingertips, desperate to be released. In fact, she probably didn't even need the bow to defend herself; she felt that if she got into a bad situation she would simply be able to destroy any opponent with her own palms!

She chuckled to herself as she stepped out into the frozen landscape outside her hut, she had been cooped up inside for so long that she had hardly even seen the snow! If anyone saw her strolling around in it alone so heavily pregnant, they would freak out and rush her back inside in a flash. Then she would never know what this unknown presence was.

Although Inuyasha would be incredibly annoyed and probably yell at her later for her reckless streak, she could no longer sit back and do nothing. She plodded towards the odd energy source, which seemed to be coming from deep inside the forest, checking to see if she was being followed first and then disappeared into the trees.

* * *

**What an idiot Kagome is! She's just putting herself in more danger! True, if you'd been cooped up in bed for months you would be pretty bored, but you wouldn't go off wandering into the forest alone following a weird presence whilst heavily pregnant! Review if you enjoyed and thank you for reading! ~Happy **


	8. Illusions Of Makia

**Heey sorry it's been such a long time since I last updated! I've just been very busy with schoolwork! Thanks for the reviews and thanks for waiting for this chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Eight

The further away from the village Kagome travelled, the stronger the odd presence became. She clutched the bow she was using as a crutch tightly and took wider strides through the knee-deep snow, she was now beginning to think that she had acted rather rashly. Inuyasha would be very angry at her stupidity and could possibly even blame Kikyo for leaving her unattended, even though it was not the elder priestess' fault in the slightest. Then again, he hardly ever blamed Kikyo for anything anyway so that possibility was instantly pushed aside with a sigh. He would grab Kagome by the shoulders and scowl at her in annoyance making a comment such as 'you're such an idiot' or 'what the hell were you thinking, you stupid woman?'. Though the thought of his over-protective ways usually frustrated her, but instead they gave her a small sense of hope and relaxed her worries.

As she continued to walk on, she peered down as her stomach and ran her hand across the warm, thick kimono that protected her special little one from the cold. She began to panic that she had maybe put the infant in danger with her ridiculous curiosity and she hoped that it would be able to hold out until she arrived back at the village, where Inuyasha would (hopefully) still be busy occupied with Sesshomaru like normal and would never have known she was gone.

Though the presence continued to fascinate her, she decided to be reasonable about the situation for once in her life and retreat back to base camp. However, the sudden snap of a twig somewhere behind her made her to spin around rather quickly, resulting in her stumbling slightly. She raised her bow in an attempt to protect herself only to slap herself mentally when she remembered that she had brought no arrows with her. No matter, she would simply use the palms of her hands like she had speculated earlier... if she could pull it off without getting herself killed. Since there was no further movement or sounds, she shifted slowly and began walking back in the direction of the village, praying that she would get back without inflicting any damage to the child which she was currently carrying.

Just as she was nearing the sacred Tree of Ages, she paused because of a new strange feeling that had just developed in her gut. Before coming out of the bushes, she peered out from behind a tree and remained absolutely silent. Her eyes widened in horror and disbelief at what she saw, she had to rub her eyes several times and pinch herself just to ensure that she wasn't having a nightmare.

Pinned against the huge God Tree, with an arrow stuck fast in his chest: was none other than Inuyasha. Kagome blinked repeatedly as she tried to process just what exactly her eyes were seeing. Inuyasha should not be here, he should be somewhere with Sesshomaru doing whatever it was that they did, not pinned here like he had been those years ago.

What came next surprised her even more and also caused her a tight knot jealousy to form in her chest, a feeling which she had not felt in quite some time now. Kikyo was standing a few feet away from the unconscious Inuyasha, panting heavily with her bow held in front, sweat running down her forehead and blood dripping down from her shoulder forming a small pool at her feet. She dropped the bow weakly and coughed hoarsely before whispering, "Inuyasha..."

Kagome felt the knot in her chest tighten as Kikyo staggered towards Inuyasha, leaving a small trail of blood behind her. She lifted her hands and placed them gently on his shoulders and leaned her head onto is chest with an expression of true pain and sadness plastered onto her usually perfect face. "I am so sorry, Inuyasha." she whispered quietly against his neck, her voice low and cracking because of her grief, "Please... please forgive me..."

Though Kagome had seen this scene numerous times in the past, it never failed to tug right at her heartstrings as she lifted her left arm and felt the damp feel of her soft cheeks. She wiped them away with the hem of her sleeve and sniffed loudly to rid herself of the remaining unshed droplets.

The image of Kikyo holding Inuyasha in her arms slowly faded away and was replaced by them standing in the clearing, smiling softly at one another before Inuyasha reached out and pulled the elder priestess into his arms lovingly before cupping her cheeks and pressing his lips against hers.

Kagome fell to her knees and shook her head in disbelief, "No," she sobbed quietly to herself, "T-This can't be right... it must be another bad dream! Yeah, that's all it is! A bad dream! Inuyasha will wake me up soon, I know he will!"

However, the harder she tried to block the image out of her mind, the stronger it became as it seemed to broadcast the scene directly through her closed eyelids. She squeezed her eyes even more shut and covered her ears with her hands, desperately trying to wake herself up from this foul nightmare. "Stop it, please," she sobbed weakly, "Don't show me any more of this, stupid brain. Why must you always think about this?"

_"Come on, mom. Stop that crying and stand up already."_

Kagome's eyes snapped open instantly in recognition to the strange voice. She raised her head slowly and tried her best to see through the layers of tears that had clogged up in her eyes and was clouding her vision.

Standing to her left, wearing her former skimpy priestess kimono, ears twitching and smiling softly: was her beloved late daughter. "Hanyuu...?" she choked in surprise as she blinked and reached out for the girl's hand, "Hanyuu, I... are you... a part of the dream too?"

Hanyuu smiled widely at her mother skipped over to the kissing Inuyasha and Kikyo where she leant up on her tip-toes and poked her father's cheek with her pointer finger, it went straight through and made the pair's images ripple slightly. The half demon girl spun around and grinned at Kagome, _"Of course this isn't real, mom. Get a grip!" _she giggled.

Kagome could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks once again as they fell into the snow at her feet and froze into tiny icy flowers, she clenched her fists tightly and wiped them away with her arm. "You're right, honey. You're always right." she choked, sniffing and hiccupping every few seconds, "THIS IS NOTHING BUT AN ILLUSION!"

The image of Inuyasha and Kikyo vanished, along with Hanyuu who gave a small smile and a wave before disappearing much to Kagome's dismay and disappointment. She rose to her feet and ran towards the see-through version of her daughter, arms outstretched and tears flowing like small waterfalls. But alas, Hanyuu was long gone before Kagome got within even a few feet away from her.

"Kukuku, how touching. What a poor little priestess you are, and with so many amusing weaknesses."

The unfamiliar taunting of a man's voice startled Kagome as she looked around frantically for whoever was messing with her now. "Who's there!? Show yourself!" she demanded fiercely.

A low pitched chuckle echoed around the wintery woods in which Kagome was lost in whilst heavily pregnant. If she had learned a few things from all of the pregnancy television shows she had watched and the talks she had had with her mother and Kaede, Kagome knew that panicking was not good for a due infant. So she, took a deep breath and kept her cool. "I don't like having to repeat myself so listen closely this time," she spoke loudly, "who are you and what do you want with me?"

A rather sturdy looking man with flowing plaited green hair and long brown robes appeared before Kagome and smirked darkly at her before snapping his fingers loudly. Another image of Hanyuu peeked out from behind the stranger and giggled playfully.

Kagome's eyes widened at the sight of her daughter but she restrained herself from running to embrace the girl, for she knew that like before she was nothing more than an illusion. "Nice try," Kagome jeered, "but I know that isn't Hanyuu, she's supposed to be dead, stupid."

The man's smirk grew as he laughed maliciously, "You can try to act noble and fearless, but your expression betrays you." he grinned, "It is one of pure distress and longing, such a face is priceless once worn by a woman. And if she were dead, why do you and the half breed believe so strongly that she is not? Is it because of what you saw many months ago, high in the sky?"

Kagome hissed under her breath as the copy of Hanyuu simply smiled sweetly and giggled at the man. "Stop that," Kagome frowned, "Stop her from doing that!"

_"Stop me from doing whaat exactly... MOM?" _the copy chuckled.

"I warn you, I'm getting very angry now so I shall ask once more: who are you and what do you want?" Kagome asked the mysterious stranger, with no friendly tone to her voice at all, "Come on, spit it out." She wished that her bloated belly was not quite so obvious as it was, she had no idea of knowing what this man's intentions were, or how he had created such an accurate image of her daughter when she had never met him before. He could intend to injure her child!

He laughed again, "I am Ayumu, master of illusions and visions. We have not met before, but my Lord informed me of you and your companions. You are the reincarnation of the half breed's first lover and the mother of the final winged person remaining. Kukuku."

"Stop laughing like that! It's weird!"

"Weird? So is your inflated abdomen in my opinion, have you been feasting on the finest foods or could it be that you are you perhaps... with child again?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

Kagome clenched her teeth and held her bow (arrows or no arrows, it didn't matter to her) in front of her tummy in a protective fashion. He was not getting his hands on her second baby, not on his life.

"It would seem that my Lord spoke the truth, what a pity that this child will be so unfortunate as to not even make it out of the womb." he sighed.

_"Aw, my poor little brother." _Hanyuu's copy sighed and shook her head falsely.

Kagome could feel the spiritual powers tingling at her fingertips as her brows pointed down and her mouth formed a firm line. "Shut up." she hissed under her breath, telling herself that they were simply lying just to get to her.

"But priestess, even if you managed to deliver the child, it would undoubtedly die almost instantly."

"And why would it? Are you some kind of doctor or something?"

"Such strange words." he chuckled.

_"But mom," _the copy started, smirking with her eyes narrowed in a sinister manor, _"can you not feel it? The aura brother is emitting?"_

"Don't. Pretend you are her." Kagome snarled at the girl who wore the face of her daughter but at the same time looked nothing like her, "And what 'aura'?"

The copy giggled in a sickeningly sweet way, _"Though it forms ridiculously fast and appears fully grown already, think back to the night that the infant's development began, the night that you and father..."_

"I get it okay!" Kagome snapped, "What are you getting at!?"

_"It was on the night of the new moon wasn't it? Meaning that father was in his human form."_

Kagome froze when she finally realized what the imposter of her daughter was trying to tell her. She was human. Inuyasha had been human. Meaning that...

_"Meaning that the child is also fully human." _the copy finished the words that were stuck on Kagome's tongue.

"No!" Kagome cried, "No human baby should be able to develop that quickly! It's usually at least nine months on average but I've only been carrying for like seven!"

Ayumu was the one to answer this time, "Priestess. With your spiritual powers and the half demon's genes helping the infant along, it would only be natural for it to have a speedy growth. However... that does not mean that this benefits the child... or you."

"Why not?" Kagome asked.

"Why, because..." The illusionary man was cut off by an arrow flying past and frying one of his many hair braids and causing it to fall to his feet steaming. The arrow flew past Kagome and struck a tree behind her before emitting a bright, pink light. Kagome shifted her gaze to behind Ayumu and let a relived expression spread across her damp and dirty face.

Kikyo was standing back with her bow ready with another arrow pressed onto the string, she had sensed her reincarnation's presence nearby along with this stranger's. Seeing the illusion of Hanyuu explained why Kikyo had partly recognized the aura, taking the form of Kagome's late daughter was a cruel trick indeed that would really get to the younger priestess.

"Ah," Ayumu practically sighed in delight, "Now I have the original version as well as the copy, double prizes!"

Kagome looked down at the ground when he called her a copy, she had had enough of people thinking that she was second best to Kikyo to last her a lifetime! She already knew that she was not as powerful, intelligent and nowhere near as beautiful as the elder priestess and she did not like to be reminded of those flaws.

Kikyo did not approve of his insult to Kagome either, she was rather envious of the younger priestess herself actually. She wished that she could go through so much suffering and be able to manage a smile afterwards, she wished that she could be so positive constantly and not know the meaning of giving up. She aimed for Ayumu and released her spiritual powers into the arrow.

When he and Hanyuu's illusion flew out of the way, she ran towards Kagome and stood in front of her protectively. "You won't touch Kagome." she glared as Ayumu landed back on his feet and chuckled darkly.

"My my," he laughed in amusement, "what a strange relationship the two of you share! From what my Lord told me of your past together, you aren't all too fond of one another. Exactly like the half breed and his older brother? Could it be that my Lord was wrong with both his judgements?"

"Enough." Kikyo ordered, reaching for another arrow, "But before I finish you off, would you care to share with us just who this Lord of yours is?"

"You mean you don't know of him? He is Komatsu, my Lord and master."

_"And my love," _Hanyuu's copy smirked seductively, _"he has taken me as his concubine after all."_

"Concubine!? Stop lying, you witch!" Kagome screeched from behind Kikyo.

_"Well, it is not ME that he has taken exactly for I am simply a copy. I was referring to the proper girl."_

Kagome paused, what if this vision was speaking the truth? If it truly had been Hanyuu that Inuyasha had seen in the air all those months ago after all? If that was true then perhaps she had been captured by this Komatsu who had desired her so? But then again, it all could just be one big fat lie in order for them to fulfil their evil wishes. It very well could be a trap.

It appeared that Kikyo was on the same page as Kagome when she asked, "How do we know that this is not some nefarious scheme in order to deceive Kagome and I? How do we know whether or not what you say is the truth?"

"Whether you choose to believe my words or not is none of my concern. But tell me... are you really so confident in your decision that you are willing to put the girl's life in danger?"

_"Can you really risk getting me killed... again?"_ the copy jeered as Ayumu chuckled to himself at Kagome and Kikyo's expressions.

"Though I fail to see the resemblance between you priestess', you both wear the same angered expression at this exact moment. It really is a very fantastic face, but I would _love_ to see you both afraid or in agonizing pain. Now that would be delightful. Kukukuku!"

Deciding that he had pushed her too far, Kikyo grunted inwardly and shot an arrow at him like she had done so before. The fact that he once again evaded her attack frustrated her even more, though she kept her usual composed look and tried not to freak out and just throw her bow straight at his smug looking face.

"Do not move, Kagome," she ordered the younger priestess firmly, "I do not want to imagine what the outcomes would be if I allowed you and your unborn to die here."

Kagome was touched by Kikyo's concern for her and her baby's safety, she nodded and turned to take a step back but before she moved away, Kikyo grabbed her hand and gazed across at her from the corner of her dark eyes. She opened her reincarnation's palm and placed the Tenseiga carefully in her hold.

"Tenseiga?" Kagome asked in confusion as she stared down at the sheathed sword in the palm of her hand, why did Kikyo have Sesshomaru's sword? "Why do you have...?"

"Do not ask questions, Kagome. The sword shall put up a barrier around you, making it difficult and unlikely for you to be attacked."

Kagome closed her mouth and licked her dry lips as she stepped back and gripped Tenseiga's handle tightly for support. The polished wood was cold and nipped at her fingers, but she did not care; she was entirely focused on Kikyo.

"Alright then. Let me see what you are made of, priestess." Ayumu smirked, "Hit me with everything you've got."

"Gladly." Kikyo scowled, raising her bow. The spiritual powers swirled around inside of her and was slowly being channelled into her black Dragonsbane bow, it glowed a bright pink that was so strong it could be considered as white.

Ayumu could sense the great amounts of power that were being emitted by the elder priestess and though he did not like to admit it, it threatened him a little as he stepped back hesitantly. The copy of Hanyuu peeked across at him and raised her eyebrow in surprise that such a feeble amount of power would send him quaking, how pathetic.

With her powers at the maximum, Kikyo smirked and waggled her fingers around, letting the lights dance around at the very tips before vanishing into sparkles. "Hmm, I wonder. Which one of you should I go for first?" she speculated, "You or your cruel little illusion of Hanyuu?"

"Oh? Illusion you say?" he chuckled, raising an eyebrow, "So you think she is simply an illusion, do you?"

This frustrated Kagome as she snapped from inside Tenseiga's barrier, "Well she sure isn't my daughter so don't even try to say that she is!"

"You are correct in that field, she is most certainly not your daughter, but she is also no illusion."

"Then please feel free to explain just what she is, then." Kikyo ordered calmly but sternly.

He laughed at the older priestess' tone and looked down at Hanyuu's copy who was also giggling, he placed his hand on the top of her head and stroked it slowly, causing her to purr at the wonderful sensation that she was experiencing.

Kagome frowned at this. Although this creature was not her little girl, she still wore the same face and seeing that face so entranced and almost... pleasured by someone as foul as Ayumu was enough to make her feel sick, literally.

Ayumu shifted his hand down to her right ear and continued to rub in small circular motions, making her purr louder and much more audible. There was something wrong with her purr and smile, Kikyo could not put her finger on what was making her feel so uneasy but there was something not right at all going on here.

It was when he moved his hand down to the copy's collarbone and began to massage her smooth skin that Kagome could truly feel the sick rising in her throat, she was absolutely disgusted by this scene and she desperately wanted to throw a rock at Ayumu's head. Her knees became weak and she fell to the ground, coughing and spluttering because of her vomit clogged throat.

Kikyo glanced across at the younger priestess briefly, before returning her gaze to Ayumu and glaring fiercely at him. He looked over at her and made eye-contact, he then removed his hand from Hanyuu's copy's flesh (much to Kagome's joy) and laughed loudly at the hateful look Kikyo was giving him. "Do you not approve of my actions, priestess'? Does it sicken you how I freely move my hands over the girl's body as if I own it?" he jeered, lifting his hand once again and massaging the girl's waist and left thigh this time.

It was too much for Kagome as she lowered her head and released the foul tasting acids that had gathered in her throat onto the once clean white snow, the infant appeared to be uncomfortable with this situation too as it was kick-boxing vigorously inside her almost as if it wanted to punch Ayumu. When she was finished, she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her haori and coughed one last time, she then dropped Tenseiga's barrier and staggered over to Kikyo's side.

"Kagome? What are you doing?" Kikyo asked in confusion, "Stay back!"

Kagome did not listen to Kikyo's command, instead she stood firmly beside the elder woman with the long black hair and looked across at her with a determined look in her eyes. "Come on," she spluttered, "this guy needs finishing... along with that lame excuse for a clone."

Kikyo knew better than to argue with her reincarnation, her expression said it all and she was not going to back down after what Ayumu had just done, so she nodded slowly and took her hand giving it a gentle squeeze. "I understand." she said softly.

Ayumu laughed at their idiocy but Hanyuu's copy was not so sure, there was something about the two priestess' that hadn't been there before, and she didn't like it - not one bit. Stepping away from Ayumu (much to his confusion) and putting her smiley Hanyuu face back on, she looked over at Kagome and sung, _"Bye mom, see you later!" _And with that, she vanished into thin air.

"Fine then," Ayumu grumbled, "Go ahead and leave after all that nice stuff I just did to you!"

A high pitched hiss from Kagome caught his attention as he flipped his head back to the two women standing before him. They were both giving him death stares and seemed prepared to kill him there on the spot. They raised their entwined hands which were both glowing a bright, dusty pink and released the energy towards him. Tenseiga also began to glow a pale blue in Kagome's grip much to both their surprise as it merged with their spiritual energy making the attack even more deadly.

It took him a second to realize that he would not survive if he was struck with this attack, so like the copy of Hanyuu had previously done so, he too vanished into thin air without a trace. Leaving the huge wave of energy to hit a tree in the background and fry it to a cinder.

Kagome blinked a few times as she tried to register what had just happened, Kikyo was also rather surprised at the immense power she and Kagome had just created though her expression remained still. She peered down at the Tenseiga in Kagome's hand and looked at it closely, its demonic energy had just merged with their spiritual energy, how could that have been possible?

A wave of nausea passed through Kagome as she held her stomach lightly and groaned in discomfort, "Well! That was intense, don't you think so?" she laughed weakly before falling unconscious only to be caught just in time by Kikyo's right arm as she quickly wrapped it around her waist for support.

"Kagome?" Kikyo asked softly though the young woman was out flat. She sighed and allowed a small smile to form on her face before she slung Kagome's arm over her shoulder and waddled back to the village, being careful not to upset the baby or Kagome's insides any more than they already were. It was rather late now and Inuyasha would most surely be back and looking for his wife; he would be absolutely furious. What was she to tell him? Making up a story just to settle him only to then learn the true story later from Kagome would make him even angrier at the fact he had been lied to. Maybe telling him the truth was the best option after all, though he was sure to be annoyed anyway.

She sighed inwardly and quickened her pace, she wanted to reach the village before nightfall at least.

* * *

Hanyuu's copy walked through the long hallways of a large castle lost in her thoughts. The two priestess' were strong and Ayumu had greatly underestimated them, ha, she wouldn't be surprised if he was dead right now!

The familiar feel of something wrapping around her feet snapped her out of her thoughts as she peered down to see the demon eel, Kirai coiling around her ankles. She sighed in frustration, "Yes I know. I am going to see him now so leave me alone." she scowled.

Releasing her grip on the girl's legs, Kirai slithered back to her master's room where she would wait with him and maybe even be stroked by him again if he was in a good mood.

The girl who wore Hanyuu's face snarled and walked forward until she reached the large study where the king usually resided, she knocked before entering like the 'good girl' she was and entered when she received an answer.

Komatsu sat at his desk smirking, with Kirai coiled around his shoulders like Sesshomaru's pelt as he stroked her slowly.

No longer having a reason for talking via telepathy as Hanyuu would usually do, the copy coughed and spoke loudly, "So, what do you want? We didn't get what you were after if that's what this is about, there was another priestess with her and she caused us quite a lot of trouble. Meaning that kid she's carrying is still alive."

Komatsu sighed in disappointment as he shook his head from side to side, with Kirai mimicking his movements making Hanyuu's copy want to strangle the goddamned eel. "So you failed then? Oh Makia, my Makia..." he sighed as she scoffed, already knowing what he was about to say, "though it would pain me to do so, I can easily remove you from this picture. By my Kirai stealing some of Hanyuu's blood and powers in order to create you, the girl is missing some of her soul. You are just a copy - a mirror image. Nothing more." Her sour expression amused him as he knew that he was offending her, "You know you are not a proper existence and you have no real purpose for living, so be a good girl and behave yourself then I may re-consider killing you."

Makia scowled at his threat and huffed, "Fine, but I'm pretty sick of imitating this brat. Her friends and family are so touchy and annoying, not to mention that her chest should NOT be this big!." she frowned.

"You are not a _perfect_ imitation: you have red eyes and Hanyuu has brown, she has wings and you do not."

His little comments and insults were really starting to get to her now as she brushed it off, "Can I leave now? Since I'm drawn to the half demon's aura maybe I can find her for you?" Really she just wanted to get out of his castle and out of his sight, she had no desire to be of any real 'help' to him, "I could sort that traitorous samurai out for you too if you want?"

"Ah yes, that would be splendid!" he chuckled rubbing Kirai's neck, "You do that."

She nodded and left the room without hesitation, how thankful she was to be away from him! Now all she had to do was seek out the girl who's appearance she was mimicking and bring back her head... along with her body and she had to be alive as well.

* * *

**Well that's that. New bad guys there everyone! Ayumu of illusions and Makia the copy. Review if you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading! ~Happy**


	9. Flaxen Weeping

**Sorry about the long wait for this update but I made this chapter _extra_ long just to make up for it! So I hope you like it and thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews, I really like reading them! ^.^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Nine

"Hey Hanyuu, get up already!"

Hanyuu groaned as the clawed hand continued to tug at the rim of her sleeve, she sighed and brushed the hand away sleepily before sinking back into the soft brown furs that she was resting on comfortably. The large hand then shifted up to her cheek where it began to poke it more forcefully.

She growled in annoyance and swatted the hand away, before rolling over and snuggling up against something else that was just as soft and furry as the wolf pelts she was lying on, the only difference was that this particular object seemed to be moving and was letting out the low thrumming sound of a heartbeat. Pulling it closer to her body and inhaling its scent, she found herself unable to tell its scent from anything else in the room as there was wolf stench all over the place, masking everything in its musky blanket.

The moving object that Hanyuu was snugly pressed against shifted uncomfortably before she could literally _feel _its breath on her earlobe as it spoke louder, "Mini mutt! Get the hell off o' me!"

Her eyes snapped open in confusion as she found herself covered in wolf furs with her arms and legs wrapped around a very impatient looking Kōga staring down at her in embarrassment. When she realized the awkward position she was in, she leapt up and yelped in surprise only to tumble over onto her back due to her clumsy ways and poor balance.

The wolf demon sat up and looked down at the half asleep girl in a knot on the floor, he chuckled at her dizzy expression and the fatigued twitching of her ears. She rubbed her eyes and yawned widely, exposing her big, jagged fangs before flashing him a wide smile. _"Good morning!" _she chirped.

He was rather surprised at how easily she had pushed the awkward situation that had just occurred aside without any further debate, not that it mattered anyway; she wasthe one who was getting cosy with _him _after all. If only her mother, Kagome, had given him that kind of attention. That way he would not have been as bothered by the fact that she had ended up with dog breath instead of him, though it was not important anymore as he had both a healthy mate and many cubs that were strong enough to take on his duty of being pack leader. And of course, having so many kids with Ayame had been rather fun indeed, oh yes. He chuckled at the memory of it.

Hanyuu waved her hand in front of Kōga's face in an attempt to distract him from his thoughts that he seemed to be deeply entranced by, she wondered just what could be so interesting that he could manage to shut himself out from the world just to ponder upon. Then again, watching as a small layer of drool ran down his chin, she had a very good idea of what was on his mind. Finally giving up after he simply refused to acknowledge her presence, she rose to her feet sluggishly (as they were still weak from her long and deep sleeping) and wandered out into the tunnels that had been formed into passages and doorways.

They had successfully managed to locate the southern wolf den all thanks to hers and Kōga's sharp noses and senses. The other wolves had been wary of the group at first but when they saw Kōga, their opinions changed instantly as they ran to greet him; it had appeared that Kōga and Toboe, the southern tribe's leader, were on good terms with one another which benefited Hanyuu and the others greatly. It was good to have warmth and shelter from the harsh cold outside, even the thought of the iciness and chilly wind was enough to send shivers down her spine as she rubbed her upper arms, generating friction (something she had learned about from one of her mother's foreign 'textbooks' as she called them) to keep herself warm.

Her icy thoughts were interrupted by something small and furry rubbing against her ankles as she peered down at whatever was touching her. Gazing up at her, with big green eyes and its tail wagging in a friendly manor: was a rather small wolf cub. It was resting its head against her leg and licking her adoringly, causing her to giggle at the feel of its slippery tongue moving all over her flesh. Four more of the cubs, each different in certain features, came running and copied the first one's actions, making Hanyuu laugh even louder and fall to her knees in a fit of giggles and snorts.

Petting their fuzzy heads and rubbing underneath their chins playfully, they piled on top of her excitingly and licked her both her face and neck as well as her arms now. They let out little amused sounding growls that Hanyuu assumed were laughs as they continued to tackle and play fight with her.

"Now now, boys. Go easy on the girl, will ya?" came a man's deep sounding voice from her left as she turned to see Toboe, the leader of the pack, standing smirking down at the pile of fur which had fully enveloped her.

The wolf cubs relaxed slightly at the sight of the pack's leader as they restrained their licking and settled down on Hanyuu with their heads snuggled comfortably against her warm body, she rubbed the chin of the cub with one lazy ear which must have been damaged whilst playing or during an attack of some sort. The baby wolf let out a low growl from the back of its throat before too relaxing its head on Hanyuu's stomach and closing its misty, grey eyes. She smiled sweetly at it before shifting her soft gaze over to Toboe who seemed impressed at her ability to soothe the usually restless infants, he made a mental note to keep her around to settle the young in the pack.

_"Can I help you with something, Toboe?" _she asked as she rubbed the back of another cub's neck in a circular motion, causing it to purr in pleasure at the calming feeling, she giggled at its reaction.

Toboe tried to stop himself from staring intently at the lovely young girl before him who had the smile of an angel (literally). He swallowed and coughed to get her attention once again, "Actually, I have a request to make of you."

_"You do? What is it?"_

"Well, erm. Before I make it..." he started hesitantly, not wanting to alarm or make her suspicious of what he was about to ask, "Do you... have someone who you are interested in, Hanyuu?"

His question caused her to blush slightly and run her index finger across her lips as she let Onigumo's many kisses cross her mind for the first time in a while, she could not tell him that she simply could not forget about the man who had had so many attempts at her friends and family's life in the past, she also could not say that he had mercilessly slaughtered many of the wolf demon tribe once he had become the evil monster, Naraku. No. she would leave out those little details.

_"Um," _she started shyly, _"It is a bit of a long and complicated story, I would struggle to adequately explain it to you without missing out some of the details."_

"So there _is _someone that you love then?" he asked, trying to mask the disappointment in his voice.

The blush continued to creep across her cheeks as her heart ached thinking about it, _"You could say that, yes." _she said quietly, the sadness showing a little in her tone and expression as she tried to brush it away. _"Anyway, what was it that you wanted to request of me?" _she asked innocently, trying to get off the awkward topic as quickly as possible.

Now he was the one blushing as he scratched the back of his head nervously. He could not ask what he had wanted to after what she had just told him, he could not say that he found her rather desirable and wished to take her as his woman just as Kōga had with the half demon, Inuyasha's human priestess, Kagome. Not when someone else apparently had their claim on Hanyuu. He shook his head frantically and laughed at the confused expression she was giving him.

"Erm... Is it the samurai who you love?" he asked curiously.

Shun? Toboe had just asked her if she was in love with Shun? Though he was a nice man and a reliable ally, Hanyuu could not bring herself too see the young man as anything more than a friend. In fact, she had never really thought about it before now as she had never truly been able to completely forget about Onigumo.

_ "I'm afraid not." _she said shaking her head.

"Kōga?" he suggested, desperate to know who was fortunate enough to win her affections.

She giggled wildly at his statement and wiped the newly formed tears from her eyes with her sleeves, she was not entirely sure why she was crying or why her chest stung at the memory of loving Onigumo. It hurt bang in the core of her heart - right in the place that Naraku had struck her with his miasma in the past. Though the poison was now gone, the feeling still lingered behind and felt like a permanent mark right in the centre of her chest, almost serving as a reminder of how close to death she had been and how she had managed to fall in love with her parents' archenemy. _This_ was why she tried to avoid thinking such thoughts as often as she could.

_"Nope," _she shook her head again allowing more droplets of water to spill down her cheeks, _"not Kōga either."_

Toboe rubbed his stubbly chin as he pondered deeply on just who had her heart, he also wondered just why she was crying like that. She was laughing and smiling, so why were there small diamonds falling fast down her smooth face without stopping?

One of the wolf cubs that had settled against Hanyuu's right leg awoke at once when she began to sob softly, it whimpered in concern and licked her palm lovingly. She peeked down at it through her wet, clouded eyes and hiccupped loudly before pulling the small demon into a tight embrace as she cried harder into its fur. The other young woke immediately and rubbed against her, desperate to soothe her.

Her sudden outbreak had surprised and alarmed Toboe as he knelt down to her level and lifted her head by her chin to reveal a little face that was filled with sorrow and loss, more tears ran down her skin and dripped onto his clawed hand forming a tiny puddle on the back of it. He gazed down at the salty water leaking from her eyes as he examined it properly, the tears were not clear as tears should be - in fact, they were a fine, shimmering gold that glowed in the dim lighting of the cavern.

"Hanyuu?" he whispered in awe, "Your tears... they're gold!"

She lifted her dainty hand up to her face as she brushed some of the shining liquid from her cheeks where she examined the residue that had clung to her palm, like Toboe had said: it was indeed a bright golden colour. Ordinary people surely did not shed golden tears? But then again, Hanyuu had always known that she was far from ordinary. This situation seemed awfully familiar actually. _"Oh. This again, huh?" _she muttered to herself.

The small cubs stared up at her glittering droplets of sadness in amazement as they reached up to lick them away, although more simply fell and replaced the old ones instantly. Their tongues lapped at her wet eyelashes as they clambered up her body and balanced their selves on her shoulders and upper arms to gain easy access to her waterworks. It tasted like magic and they quite liked the flavour of it.

Arina watched from afar in the darkness of the cavern as the girl before her continued to weep quietly, clearly confused at why she was having such a reaction to nothing much. Though she was unaware of it, Hanyuu was slowly beginning to correspond with her past self, Haya, in both her actions and destiny. It would soon be time to grant the wish that her previous form could not.

* * *

"No, Haya! You can't stop them! They won't ever stop until they've brutally destroyed each other and everything else around them!" Onigumo cried as his lover leapt onto the back of a large and determined looking Kirara.

"Please do not try to stop me, Onigumo." she said to him as she secured herself onto the fire cat demon's back, "They are my parents and I refuse to just sit by and watch them murder one another without trying to do something!"

Onigumo sighed inwardly as more villagers screams could be heard from the village nearby where Magatsuhi and Midoriko were still battling it out fiercely. The demons in the forest had become restless and were fleeing the area in the fear of being purified by the great priestess' immense spiritual power. Onigumo had wanted to leave the land with Haya to a safer place were he could then ask for her hand in marriage. However, she seemed intent on staying and refusing to abandon her parents, despite their new killing natures.

"But what happens if they hurt you?" he asked quietly, the concern in his low voice was enough to break Haya's heart.

She let out a small sigh and nudged Kirara for her to walk closer to Onigumo in order for her to pull him against the fire cat's fur and closer to her, she ran her hand through his thick raven hair and squeezed him tightly. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist and sighed into the space where her neck and shoulder joined. She kissed the side of his cheek softly before she leant back, giving him a small smile.

Kirara growled in a gentle pitch as she gave the girl a worried look, Haya rubbed her hand over the two tail's head and jawline slowly. "It's okay, Kirara." she cooed softly, "My wings may be gone and with the master of potions, but that doesn't make me weak and useless." The cat demon looked away sadly, finding herself unable to look the girl directly in the eyes, she had an awful skin-crawling feeling that this was not going to end well.

Haya then shifted her gaze back to Onigumo and put on a brave face, "Help the villagers to evacuate their homes, I shall do my best to put a stop my parents fighting. Your place is here, now do as I ask and do a good job of it." she ordered firmly.

He nodded, putting on _his _brave face as Kirara took off to the sky with Haya holding onto her fiery mane tightly. He followed after them as they flew over the forest and back to the burning village where men, women and children alike were running around screaming in fear. Just as the fire cat and her purple eyed rider flew off into the distance and out of sight, he spotted a young girl on her own trapped in a ring of fire, wailing loudly for her mother and father. He leapt over the smaller flames to her side and slung her over his shoulder swiftly before running back as fast as his legs would carry him.

Haya stared up ahead at the raging fires and fields of destruction as Kirara increased her speed, a sudden horde of demons flying away from the battlefield crashed into them at a great speed, throwing the girl from her loyal two tailed cat and into the air. Kirara let out a loud snarl as she sunk her fangs into the fleeing demon's hard flesh, ripping them to pieces in order to clear a path for her to fly through and catch the falling Haya.

She caught the girl in her jaws just in time as she flew in zigzags, trying to avoid all the hovering mutant worms and spiders as they hit her with their poisons and claws. A large centipede latched itself to her face and dug its sharp talons into her magenta eyes, blinding her as she let out a high pitched, shrill cry.

Haya gasped in horror as she watched the fire cat growl in pain and bewilderment as to where she was flying, in her confusion she knocked into several other demons that inflicted further damage to her such as hearing loss in one ear and three deep gashes on her back that bled dangerously. The half demon shifted her gaze to the dry, dusty ground that they were now heading for rapidly. "KIRARA, FLY UP NOW!" she shrieked.

Her cry was heard too late by Kirara's only working ear as they hit the ground at a force so great it created a small crater where they fell. Kirara trembled with her fur standing up as she desperately tried to regain her lost vision and now mobility, since her front and hind legs seemed to be broken from the harsh fall. She whimpered loudly as she sniffed around fiercely for Haya and whined loudly.

Lying on Kirara's back in the torn and bloody fur, was Haya. She groaned as she rubbed her temples slowly, trying to stop everything around her from spinning. Thanks to the two tail cushioning her fall, she was reasonably alright aside from her bleeding forehead that caused thick, blood to leak down her eye and drip from her chin. She gazed down at the distressed demon beneath her and coughed weakly to let her presence be known, Kirara tilted her head in the direction of the sound and her nose met Haya's palm who stroked the black, wet tip lightly, receiving a comforted purr in response.

"Oh Kirara," she sighed sadly, studying the many wounds that engulfed the two tail's large body, "look at you. You're hurt very badly."

Kirara simply growled softly at her statement and rested her head on the hard ground, her body weak and tired. She wanted to sleep but she did not want to leave Haya on her own to face Magatsuhi and Midoriko without her wings. The large wildcat attempted to move her legs only to growl in pain as the ligaments were torn and bled more when she shifted them. Haya stopped her instantly and exclaimed, "No, you can't! You'll die if you move!"

The demon hissed weakly as she raised her head limply, searching for the girl's hand which she licked affectionately and rubbed her scratched head against. "Let me help you, Kirara." Haya pleaded, "Please?"

When she felt the half demon's palm pressed firmly against her forehead, she snarled and shifted back quickly. There was absolutely no way that she would allow her to do such a thing for something as insignificant as a lowly demon like herself. Haya's expression saddened at Kirara's refusal, "Please? I don't want you to die. Please, Kirara." she begged.

Kirara sighed inwardly and relaxed slightly, allowing the girl to once again place her hand on her forehead. She could feel the powers flowing into her and giving her a new kind of strength that made her feel a little dizzy to begin with, her wounds closed and her sight and hearing returned - they were a little better than before actually.

Lowering her hand from her demon sidekick's furry head, Haya blinked as her vision began to blur. Her powers were weak and she was running out of time, if she didn't act fast it would be too late for everyone. She licked her dry lips and rose to her feet slowly, leaning on Kirara's shoulder for support as she panted heavily and wiped away the blood that was now pouring heavily from her head injury. Kirara whimpered worriedly as she watched the half demon girl suffer so, only to receive a small half-hearted smile in response.

"I'm alright," Haya insisted, "really I am."

Kirara did not seem convinced as she licked her arm and whimpered once again.

Haya sighed inwardly as she wrapped her dirty arms around the fire cat's neck and tried to hold in her tears, she squeezed her tightly and breathed heavily into the soft and comforting cream tinted fur mane. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, Haya pulled away and brushed several black locks of hair from her sad lavender eyes as she took a step back from the two tail.

She gave her a weak smile as she continued to step backward, "Mother was wise to choose you as her companion, Kirara. I'm sure she won't ever forget about you. Like I know _I _won't." she whispered hoarsely.

When Kirara realized the meaning behind her words she growled in protest only to be shushed by Haya. "Please don't argue with me, I need you to help the villagers too, along with Onigumo. He can't do it without you." she said just before her voice had the time to break and crack. She looked down at her palms which were emitting a small amount of pink spiritual powers mixed with the blueness of her demonic energy, "And besides, I still have a little fire left in me." she whispered, a hint of hope in her voice.

Kirara broke the eye-contact and faced the ground sadly, all the people that she cared about were doomed to die. First her mistress, Midoriko, whom she had known to be lost from the moment she first stood against Magatsuhi, and now the girl she had helped to raise from birth was now too destined to fade away into nothing. Was this the price that a demon had to pay for caring for a mortal? Could there ever be a happy ending for a human loving fire cat such as herself?

Lifting her head after a while, Kirara moved slowly to one side, allowing Haya to pass to where Midoriko and Magatsuhi were furiously battling. She bowed her head respectfully as the girl trudged by her and disappeared into the murky forest ahead, when Kirara could simply stand and stare as the wonderful, selfless girl just walked right out of her life. Though the girl was convinced on handling this alone, surely she would need _someone _by her side at the very end of it all? Did she really have to die? Before Kirara could change her mind, she took off from the ground in the direction of the burning village where she would seek out the merchant, Onigumo.

Haya followed the sounds of her mother's deafening screams and her father's shrill screeches, the forest was now beginning to burn as the flames gnawed at the trees, transforming them into large dancing torches as she staggered beneath them. Her vision was now blurry and new wounds were opened by the sharp, sizzling branches and briars as she brushed past them all no longer giving a care to how badly hurt she was. She bent down and removed her sandals as they had begun to rub her feet which were now covered in blisters and burns. The shoes were tossed away into a burning bush, as was her blue apron that she wore around her bottom half just as the other women in the village would - it had been getting in her way anyway.

The trees finally parted and she stepped out into the harsh miasma infected air where Midoriko and Magatsuhi were lunging at each other and calling out powerful attacks. She stared up at the pair and watched sadly as the rain began to fall from the dark clouds, cloaking her in a watery veil and dripping down her dirty, bloody face. The loud booms of thunder echoed throughout the land as jagged lightning struck fiercely.

* * *

Whilst dressing an old man's bandages, Onigumo glanced across in the distance at the source of the fires and destruction where the great battle was taking place. He worried for Haya whom had given him a look that he had never seen before when she told him goodbye, it was a look that suggested she was not coming back. Of course, deep down Onigumo had always suspected that she would not be able to live normally due to her heritage and mixed species. He knew that she would eventually be cruelly ripped from him by something, he just never wanted to admit that that was going to happen sooner or later.

Turning back to the injured old man before him he put on a fake smile and said, "Keep that clean and you'll be just fine." The man nodded and thanked him before being helped up by some of his family members that hadn't perished in the fires and was lead away.

Onigumo once again turned his gaze to the distance where he thought of his Haya and her wellbeing, however, his train of thoughts were interrupted by a familiar looking fire cat demon flying towards him at an incredible speed. "Kirara?" he muttered as he rose to his feet quickly, "What is she doing here? And where is Haya...?" He rushed off to meet the two tail approaching him fast and met her as she landed on the ground a few feet away from him.

He studied her back and noticed that it was missing a certain purple eyed half demon. "Kirara... where is Haya!?" he asked hesitantly.

The fire cat gave him a sharp look as she let off a low growl from the back of her throat, she turned and began to walk away only to tilt her head in his direction: almost as if she wanted him to follow her. He got the hint when he asked, "Are you trying to get me to follow you?" She growled as an answer, which he took as a yes.

He ran to her side where she leant down on all fours and looked up at him intently. He gasped in surprise as he realized what it was she was doing - she was giving him permission to climb on her back. He had never had her approval to be able to ride on her back as Midoriko and Haya would, she would simply hiss or flash her fangs at him whenever he got close. But now here she was, lying before him and willingly submitting herself to him. Wow. Haya must be in real trouble for the two tail to give up her pride and ego so easily. Wasting no more time, he straddled Kirara's back and held on tightly as she took off into the air.

Despite the pouring rain, unlike the village and forest fires that were slowly diminishing, Kirara's red flames burned bright as she flew on. Everything about her was burning really: her eyes, her body temperature and even her spirit. Onigumo inhaled the scent of Haya which was still clinging to Kirara's fur along with dry blood and the scent of magic, it was comforting to feel her presence so close.

* * *

Magatsuhi struck Midoriko with his miasma which she countered with her force field, the two were gradually weakening but not willing to surrender, they would rather die than be beaten which at the moment may very well be the outcome of the situation.

"PERISH MIDORIKO!" Magatsuhi bellowed, sending waves of demonic energy towards her.

She sliced the beam in half with her sharp sword and screamed, "Never! I will not give up until you are dead!"

The rain dripped from Haya's hair and down her soaking clothes, she had undoubtedly caught a cold and probably a bad fever too, but that didn't really matter any more. She needed to stop the bloodshed and ridiculous unnecessary fighting before it got any more out of control, but it was quite obvious that her parents were not going to stop no matter what she said to them. Though she did not like to admit it, she was no longer considered to be their daughter, not even to Midoriko. They were so blinded by hate and rage they had forgotten what it was like to love someone.

She knelt on the hard, muddy ground and joined her fingers together, she could feel the remaining powers in her body slowly surfacing as she focused deeply. Her body began to glow a bright pink as she channelled the energy into her palms. Her parents were now too far to be reached, her voice could no longer be heard. Giving up her life did not bother her too much really, it was only a small sacrifice compared to the lives of others. And with her wings gone, she could not truly die anyway - well, actually that was a lie of course she could die. Well rather, her _body _could die but without her wings, her soul could not truly be killed. If she simply manifested her soul into an object of some kind along with Midoriko's and Magatsuhi's, then they would still technically be alive.

Rising to her feet slowly, she muttered the words that would be the start of a great fairy-tale, one that would be remembered for centuries to come.

"Aramitama - Courage," An image of Magatsuhi came to her mind, he was grinning and protecting his lover and child from danger, the way he used to.

"Kushimitama - Wisdom," Midoriko was sitting brushing her daughter's wings like she would every afternoon and singing softly, she was also telling a story and giving her advice.

"Nigimitama - Friendship," Kirara was in her small form, purring loudly as Haya tickled her tummy and rubbed her ears, she nibbled at her fried fish as she poked it with her small, dainty paw.

"And Sakimitama - Love." she finished as an image of Onigumo came to her, laughing and describing something lecherous to her which she would shriek at in embarrassment, receiving a louder laugh from him before he pulled her towards him and planted a small kiss on her lips, only to then threaten to demonstrate the lecherous act he had previously explained on her.

When the words were spoken, her body glowed with a blinding pink light and her eyes burned a fine amethyst as the light left her eye sockets and enveloped a very confused Midoriko and Magatsuhi in mid fight, leaving their bodies frozen in a crystallized form with Midoriko in the jaws of Magatsuhi who was in the form of a great Dragon.

Golden, shimmering tears leaked down Haya's face as she watched the souls of the two people she loved dearly be sucked into a small void. The tears were the remainder of her powers that fell to the ground, sprouting green shoots of grass and flower buds to grow from the once dry soil, cultivating the land and bringing life.

Onigumo and Kirara came flying onto the scene just in time for Haya to glance up at them and give them a soft smile before the final shining tear escaped from her eyes just as they closed peacefully, she fell to the ground and lay motionless.

"HAYA!" Onigumo shrieked as he watched the girl he loved have her life drained away. Just as she fell, a small cluster of white lights escaped from his chest and flew towards the void that had sucked in Midoriko, Magatsuhi and Haya's souls; several lights escaped from Kirara's chest too and joined the others.

Kirara growled in discomfort at the odd feeling she had just experienced, it had felt as if part of her soul was being ripped out forcefully. She snarled and crash landed on the now grassy turf on the ground with plants and flowers growing from it, so the landing wasn't really that bad. Transforming back into her smaller kitten form as the sense of danger had disappeared and she felt weak anyway, she sneezed at the dandelion seeds that entered her nose and made it itch. The small fluffy seeds danced with the gentle breeze and circled around a palm sized, glittering sphere that lay where Haya's body had originally been. She sat up and mewed quietly in Onigumo's ear who also sat and examined the surroundings, he looked around for Haya who, much to his dismay, was nowhere in sight. All that could be seen was a crystallization of Midoriko in Magatsuhi's jaws and a small purple jewel a few feet away from him and Kirara.

He crawled across the grassy earth and picked it up and held it delicately in his hands. The small fire cat watched from a distance as his lips moved in a speaking pattern, he appeared to be talking to the jewel in his hands, she couldn't help but think just what a weirdo he was. But she couldn't really bring herself to blame him for his odd behaviour as the mysterious jewel seemed to be letting off Haya's aura, as well as her mistress' and Magatsuhi's along with... Onigumo's and her own? What exactly _was _this strange gem? How had it perfectly copied a small fraction of her own essence? Could those enigmatic lights that had escaped hers and Onigumo's chests have in fact been a part of their souls? It would explain why she felt as if there was another version of her nearby.

After a little while of Kirara sniffing and sneezing more dandelions since she was not comfortable enough to approach the odd jewel any closer, and more of Onigumo's muttering to it in his palms he stopped and turned to the two tail. He stood upright and walked towards her, stopping a few feet away, fully aware that she was not comfortable being near the jewel.

"Kirara," he started, "this jewel... it needs to be protected."

Kirara cocked her head to one side cutely, like a bird and blinked curiously. It needed to be protected? Why? What did he know about it that she did not?

He knelt down and looked her directly in the eyes, "You're not going to like this but... I need _you _to protect it."

She growled at him, not liking his proposal one bit. There was something about the jewel that comforted her slightly as she could feel Haya and her mistress, but also there was something dark and eerie about it. And the look in Onigumo's eyes was something else too, she had never seen him wear that kind of expression before - not even when they were having an intense staring contest which Kirara would usually win.

"I know you don't like what I'm asking of you," he said extremely softly for him as Kirara raised an eyebrow at him as if she was congratulating his ability to point out the obvious, "but I need you to do this. No, _Haya _needs you to do this." he finished, opening his closed palm and presenting the sparkling jewel to her.

She eyed him and the jewel suspiciously before sighing mentally and lowering her head sadly, her ears drooped along with both of her large bushy tails as she mewed quietly. Shocking her, Onigumo reached down and pulled the small kitten into his chest and cradled her in his arms. She blinked several times in surprise as the irritating merchant buried his nose into her fur and inhaled her scent, she could also smell the faint saltiness of tears escaping from his eyes which seemed very out of character for someone like him, if he could see himself now he would most likely fall over laughing at his ridiculous actions. Though, she was not all too fond of him, she felt sad and lonely too and liked the feel of an embrace, even if it wasn't from her mistress or Haya. As long as no-one saw her, she could respond to him couldn't she?

Just as Onigumo was about to swallow the lump in his throat and release the surprised fire kitten, he gasped in surprise when he thought he felt her snuggle against his chest and the wetness of her tiny nose rub against his tanned skin. He petted the back of her head and stroked the part where her triangle ears joined her scalp, receiving a barely audible purr. Despite the situation and all that had taken place, he found a small smile stretching across his face as Kirara licked his exposed collarbone.

"Well?" he asked eventually, "Can I entrust you with the jewel or not?"

She mewed in a manor that he took as a yes so he handed her the glittering sphere which she took in her jaws and peered up at him, he grinned. "We'll call it... the Shikon Jewel of Four Souls." he said finally after a long pause.

Shikon huh? Shikon did mean four souls after all so it was a rather fitting title for the jewel. The Shikon Jewel.

After Onigumo's disappearance a few days after he gave Kirara the jewel, she entrusted it to the head villager and made it very clear that it was important and needed to be protected at all costs. The village then devoted itself to the arts of slaying and exorcizing demons, along with Kirara they guarded the jewel well and stopped it from getting into the hands of evil. Eventually, the earth began to form around the crystallization of Midoriko and Magatsuhi, forming a small cave that developed its own little barrier which kept stray demons from entering. Only the people of the village knew how and were permitted to enter the cavern.

* * *

Kirara sat on the wooden fence beside Sango's hut as she watched Inuyasha yell at Kikyo and Kaede for leaving Kagome on her own, making it easy for her to wander off without being noticed. The cat demon often wondered how it was possible for someone to have such bad anger problems like Inuyasha did, he blew his top almost everyday at silly little things which she found rather amusing herself like when he lost one of his haori sleeves and blamed her for eating it. How stupid of him, she did not eat clothing she merely _chewed _at it, and besides his cloth of the fire rat was not very tasty anyway so she tended to avoid it as much as she could.

"If you can't keep a better eye on her then I'll have to watch her all the time myself!" he snapped at the two priestess' who looked as if they had been deafened, the poor things.

All those years ago, when Onigumo had first presented the Shikon Jewel to her, she had never imagined what an incredible journey she would take part in or all the wonderful people she would meet. But also, she never would have guessed that the merchant she once knew would later convert to a cold bandit and then a ruthless, killing monster calling himself 'Naraku'. She also had not foreseen Haya reincarnating herself as Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter and travelling back in time to meet the past version of Onigumo, or the fact that she would finally regain her lost wings... wow, this was a complicated story indeed. It was like one of those 1000 jigsaw puzzle thingies that Kagome had once brought back from her world: there were many pieces that eventually all fitted together and created a picture.

Yep, it was all very confusing indeed and Kirara had often struggled to keep up with most of the details.

After shouting for a while longer, Inuyasha finally cooled down and sighed loudly before retreating back to his hut where Kagome was lying sleeping. Kikyo and Kaede exchanged glances before bursting out into hysterical laughter (or cackles in Kaede's case). All through Inuyasha's ranting, the two sister's had been trying their hardest to keep a straight face and now he was gone they could let it all out. There was no reason for him to be angry, they had gotten out of the Ayumu situation fine and Kagome was safe too, so all was spiffing. They too, returned to their hut wit a few more laughs and gossip about how Kohaku was planning to ask Rin out.

"Kirara?" came Sango's voice from beside the two tail as she turned her head to see the young woman leaning against the fence next to her, "What are you up to sitting there eavesdropping to people's conversations like a ninja, do you like being nosy all of a sudden?"

Kirara chuckled mentally and hopped down from the fence, rubbing against Sango's legs affectionately before bounding off to find the slayer's three children and Shippo to play with. Sango smirked as she watched the small fire cat skip off, she sometimes wished that Kirara could talk so she could ask her about whatever she was thinking, she could be thinking about literally _anything _and Sango would have absolutely no idea. In this case, Sango would never know what took place inside the two tail's mind and that was not about to change.

* * *

**Wow, that's officially the longest chapter yet! Phew! I never really thought that Kirara got enough credit in the show and she was often underestimated or simply pushed aside, so I thought she deserved a special part in this story! By the way, the chapter name "Flaxen Weeping" is basically another way of saying Golden sobbing. Well, I hope chapter this makes up for the long waiting. Thank you so much for reading, leave a review if you enjoyed it! ~Happy**


	10. The Sword and The Magic Stone

**Sorry for not updating in a while, I've had tons of homework and I felt a little ill so I was unable to write any more of the story :( But now I am better and I can finally continue! Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day (I know I did... alone).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Ten

Hanyuu strolled out of the wolf den casually and inhaled the cool, fresh air deeply as she stretched her arms out in an attempt to relieve them of the stiffness in her joints. She let a small smile spread across her mouth as she peered down at her old priestess styled kimono that Shun had retrieved from the castle and given back to her. It resembled Kagome and Kikyo's greatly apart from a few minor differences, such as the big bow that was tied at the back instead of the front and the tangy reddish orange that replaced a usual priestess' blood red coloured garments. And because of the cold and high risk of acquiring injuries, Toboe and Kōga had recommended she wear a black jumpsuit sort of costume underneath the priestess kimono - it looked a lot like Sango's demon slayer outfit actually, apart from the pink armour plates.

Kneeling at the foot of a large frosty tree outside of the den, she gasped happily at what she saw - just at the base of the trunk, peeking out from the blanket of snow was a small, green plant shoot. Numerous blades of grass were also poking out all around the area and the thickness of the snow appeared to be a lot thinner than before. Spring must be on its way is what Hanyuu thought to herself before rising to her feet and gazing up into the screen of branches above her, icicles were dripping and leaves were beginning to sprout from some branches.

The young wolf cubs from before came slinking behind her and rubbed against her legs adoringly, she tilted her head to the ground and smiled softly at them before crouching down and stroking the one with grey eyes on the left ear. They licked her arm as they had done before and she kissed each of them on the tips of their noses, making them purr quietly at her attention. As much as she enjoyed petting and cuddling each of the tiny balls of fur, Hanyuu couldn't help but wonder just why they seemed to be so attached to her; they had followed her everywhere for practically the entire day simply staring up at her in awe with their tongues out panting and their tails wagging from side to side.

As she continued to pet the tiny animal children, her ears twitched rather suddenly at a low pitched voice from somewhere in the forest, she stood swiftly and sniffed in the direction of the voice. What was this? There was someone nearby yet she sensed no presence and there was no scent coming from the direction of the speaking. Confused by her actions, the wolf cubs lowered their heads and sniffed the ground frantically. Surprising Hanyuu by instantly leaping back and whining loudly, they then proceeded in scampering behind her and whimpering in fear.

_"What is it?" _she asked, _"Do you smell something?"_

When they only continued to whine, she turned to the direction of the sound and sniffed harder. Could they smell something that she couldn't? Was her half demon nose too weak to detect a scent so advanced? Her ears twitched more as the voice slowly became more audible, she squinted her eyes and raised her ears high to listen more carefully.

The voice was faint and she failed to understand several words but she managed to work out that it was a young woman's voice, "...name is...and...come...your offspring."

What in the world was this person saying? Offspring? Wasn't that another word for referring to children? Could it be that a child was in danger? How awful! Hanyuu perked her ears higher and attempted to listen some more.

"What!? No, you can't have her!" came a second voice that sounded impossibly familiar, which surprised Hanyuu greatly as she gasped loudly.

Completely forgetting about the wolf cubs at her feet, she ran off instantly in the direction of the voices, running as fast as she could. It couldn't really be _her _could it? There was no way that it could be _her _of all people! What would she be doing this far away from her home and so close to Hanyuu? The voices were growing louder and becoming more audible as Hanyuu ran on through the trees.

"Too bad, but I will be taking her." the first voice sighed, "Anyway, what can _you _do about it? Your man and puff ball are busy fighting my mate and you look pretty defenceless on your own, so I guess the girl's as good as mine."

"Over my dead body!" the more familiar voice shrieked.

The sinister voice chuckled darkly, "Oh, that can be arranged."

Hanyuu panted as she increased her speed in order to reach the source of the voices. This should not be possible. It was not physically possible for this scene to be happening... _again_. The smell of fear drifted into Hanyuu's nostrils and caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up due to the new chilling atmosphere, she had smelt this fear before and she was certainly not very happy having to smell it again.

"Get back!" the familiar voice cried desperately.

"Don't worry, I'll make it nice and quick." the sinister woman cooed in a sickeningly sweet tone that was enough to make Hanyuu feel sick.

She finally burst through the trees into a clearing where the snow seemed to have fully vanished and looked to have been transformed back into a hot summer's day! Her jaw dropped open at the scene before her as she shook her head slowly. Up ahead, at the centre of the clearing was Arina and Kagome who seemed to be holding something small and fluffy looking. When she realized, she fell to her knees in the shock and discovered that she was all out of air to give out a gasp or sigh. The small fluffy bundle... was her as a small baby. This was the day she had 'died' by Ren's hand. Her father and Shippo were occupied with Ren who was in his Dragon form and Sango and Miroku were about to run onto the scene and give her mother a hand. Then Ren would come charging through the trees and slam into Kagome, sending her flying and Hanyuu up into the air where he would catch her and 'kill' her. It was all about to happen right here before her eyes.

Hanyuu covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head slowly, _"Please not again, not this." _she whimpered quietly. However, her voice did not seem to be heard by neither her mother or Arina and not even the younger version of herself.

Just as she had remembered it, Sango's Hiraikotsu came flying in and almost chopped Arina in half but was a little slow as she leapt out of the way. Then the slayer herself came bounding over with her husband not too far behind, who was panting in exhaustion and mumbling about how he was too old for this now. They fought with Arina for a while before a familiar scream echoed through the forest, causing the group to turn their heads towards the sound.

_"No please!" _Hanyuu cried, tears not streaming down her cheeks - the tears were gold like before and shimmered in the sunlight. She wiped them away quickly with the hem of her sleeve and blinked rapidly, desperate to stop them from falling. Whenever she wept, it felt as if her power was slowly being drained away along with the glittering tears.

"LOOK OUT!" Inuyasha screeched as the Dragon Ren came bursting through the trees in the direction of Kagome and little Hanyuu. "RUN KAGOME!" he yelled loudly, rushing after the large lizard with Tetsusaiga held high above his head with Shippo in pink ball form not too far behind him.

Hanyuu watched motionless as the smaller version of herself was thrown into the air when Ren slammed into her mother and caught the child in his jaws. She licked her lips and swallowed the lump in her throat. It was coming, it was going to happen again, and this time she was here to witness it from a distance like her friends and family had done.

Arina ordered Ren to silence the bawling child in his fangs which he did, only to realize that he had accidentally murdered her. Hanyuu watched as the life drained from her young eyes and her tiny ears drooped lifelessly. She glanced across at her father who dropped his sword and stood as still as a statue simply staring up at her unable to move, Kagome was on her knees, wailing uncontrollably and Sango and Miroku covered their mouths in horror. Shippo had transformed into his normal form and burst into snotty tears and hiccups.

Stomping her foot in frustration, Arina shrieked at Ren for killing their hostage before storming off after ordering him to dispose of the little girl's body. Hanyuu watched in confusion as Ren's narrow red eyes saddened slightly at Sango and Miroku's pleading for him to give them the girl's body, why did he look so pained? Before he could do anything else, he took off with the little girl in his jaws and flew away swiftly.

She then watched as her friends and family all gathered into a large group hug and sobbed uncontrollably, even the men. Hanyuu ran towards them in an attempt to comfort them, desperate to let them know of her presence. But alas, as she had suspected, they could neither see nor hear her, they could not even feel her touch as she ran her hand across her mother's head. Her hand went straight through and caused the image to ripple slightly, there was no doubt about it - this was definitely an illusion of some sort.

_"This isn't real!" _she shrieked loudly all around. Just as the words had left her lips, the image of the grieving group vanished and the scene transformed back into a snowy, wintry clearing.

"Hey, you're better than I thought." giggled a voice that sounded ridiculously similar to her own, "This could be more fun than I'd originally thought."

_"Who are you!?" _Hanyuu snarled, exposing her fangs and claws causing the voice to laugh loudly.

A girl that looked just like a mirror image of herself appeared before her and chuckled at her reaction, everything about the girl was exactly the same apart from the sharp, redness of her eyes and the black flowing kimono that she was wearing.

Hanyuu blinked in confusion at the girl's appearance, _"Wha?" _she stuttered.

"What ever is the matter?" the mirror image laughed, "Have you maybe noticed the resemblance between us?"

_"This is incredible..." _Hanyuu gasped as she properly studied the copy. _"Who ARE you?" _she repeated.

"I'm Makia." she grinned. "I'm your copy."

_"Copy? What are you talking about?"_

"Well do you remember when the demon eel from before bit you in the hot spring back at Komatsu's castle? She sucked a little of your blood which Komatsu then used to create me. That's what I am - your shadow."

_"But why? What can possibly he gain from creating a copy of me?"_

A deeper manly voice stopped Makia from answering, "Now now, Makia. Don't tell the half breed everything. She can find out the rest when we take her back to Lord Komatsu. Kukukuku." he cackled. A man with long green hair in plaits appeared in the air and smirked, "Ah Hanyuu, allow me to introduce myself: I am Ayumu. And might I say just how lovely it is to finally meet you in person... and not just as a crummy clone."

Makia scowled at his comment and grabbed Hanyuu's arm tightly, causing her to yelp at the sudden pinch. "Enough jibber jabbering, you're coming with us." she said firmly.

_"No I'm not! Let me go now!" _she protested, trying to release herself from the copy's grasp.

"Oh come on, bad guys NEVER listen to that stupid plea." Ayumu sighed, "If we let you go just like that, it would defeat the purpose of us coming all the way out here."

_"Wait a minute. How exactly did you re-create that scene of Arina and Ren's... attack?"_

"Simple. I specialize in generating dreams and illusions. Let me give you another little demonstration." His eyes flashed a sudden green as Hanyuu found her vision clouding over.

_"What are you... doing?" _she asked dizzily, losing her balance a little as she rubbed her suddenly sleepy eyes.

"Sweet dreams." he smirked as her eyelids drifted shut and her legs gave way. Makia caught the girl which she was imitating just before she hit the ground and slung her across her shoulder, she scowled up at his 'gentleness' and 'consideration' towards the half demon.

"Aren't you such a gentleman?" she jeered sarcastically.

Ayumu chuckled to himself, "Come now, Makia. We have what we came here for, let us depart at once." He snapped his fingers and he, Makia and the unconscious Hanyuu vanished instantly.

* * *

"Hey. Any of you seen Hanyuu around?" Shun asked Kōga and Toboe as he wandered around the wolf den in search of his half demon companion.

"Wasn't she with the cubs?" Kōga suggested, scratching his head, "Damn, them kids just can't leave her alone!"

"Yeah that's another thing... I can't find any of them either." he muttered.

Toboe rubbed his chin as he pondered, "They should be with the females, did you look there?" he asked.

Shun nodded, "That's the first place I checked. No sign of them or Hanyuu."

"I saw her sneaking out through the west entrance a little while ago," Arina's voice startled them as they turned to see her walking towards them, "the cubs were tagging along after her."

"Take me to her." Shun said, standing before her with his arms crossed.

Kōga slapped his hand on Shun's shoulder and grinned, "I'm coming too. Y'never know, you might need an extra pair of paws."

"Ill come as well," Toboe said confidently. He didn't want anything bad to happen to Hanyuu and he would protect her with his life, even if she didn't return the feelings that he felt for her.

Shun nodded at the two before turning back to Arina, "Lets go." he nodded at her.

"Fine. Follow me." she sighed as she turned and lead them in the direction of where she saw Hanyuu and the wolf cubs last.

* * *

"Excuse me? Wake up miss."

Hanyuu groaned as she felt the unbearable pounding of her head and the burning of thirst in her throat, the ground was soft and smelled sickeningly sweet once again. She opened her eyes sluggishly and waited for her vision to focus. Gazing down at her and smiling softly was Ai, the serving woman whom she had met before in Komatsu's castle.

"Hello again, Lady Hanyuu." she smiled down at the half demon girl who was looking around the room in confusion, "It's been quite a while since we last saw one another, hasn't it?"

Hanyuu coughed and sat up swiftly, only to regret it due to the further pain in her temples that throbbed heavily. Licking her exceedingly dry lips and rubbing her forehead, she looked up at Ai and asked hoarsely, _"I'm not... back here again, am I?"_

"Yes, you most certainly are." she nodded, "The Lord sent out his best underlings to retrieve you the instant he discovered you were missing. The last thing he wanted was you being out there and getting hurt."

_"How very considerate of him."_ she muttered dryly. This was great. Just great. She had managed to get out of here once but now she was back again and everything was as if she had never escaped! And to make things worse - there was no Shun here this time. The castle seemed a lot less safe than last time without him here to keep her company.

Ai handed her a cup of herbal tea, which she gulped heartily, leaving no residue left in the cup when she returned it. The stinging of thirst had now left her throat and she could breathe without craving liquid.

"Now come on, mistress. Out of bed. The Lord wishes to see you as soon as possible."

Sighing and trying to ignore the awful feeling of having to see Lord Komatsu again, she crawled out of the large, silk bed and stretched. She was thankful that her priestess costume was still attached to her and had not been removed or replaced, it felt nice to have at least _one _familiar possession with her, even if it was only clothing. Though her thirst was gone, her head was still pounding because of the sickly sweet scent that seemed to be everywhere and she discovered that she was quite hungry. She then turned to Ai and nodded, indicating that she was ready to go.

"This way." Ai smiled again as she opened the door and gestured for Hanyuu to step through it.

She followed at metres length away from Ai as they wandered down the polished hallways. Hanyuu knew that every step she took, the closer she became to Lord Komatsu - the man who wanted to take away both her newly aqquired freedom and virginity by making her his concubine. She shuddered at the thought of the Lord who was so much older than her with his bony fingers all over her bare skin, euurrgh! Oh, how she wished for the presence of another whom she was comfortable around and familiar with. Ai was not overly bad company but she spoke to her with ridiculously high respect and seemed to be terrified of displeasing the girl and being punished for her mistakes.

They arrived at a large door encrusted in polish and wooden carvings with a sign that read: King's Study, which Ai opened carefully and lead Hanyuu inside. The room was rather large and spacey with small marble statutes positioned around the edges and fancy looking purple rugs laid across the smooth floor, at the other side of the room was a large wooden desk covered in neatly arranged important looking papers... and a bowl of yummy looking fruit that made Hanyuu's stomach growl. There was also a small bookshelf, a window with a view of the gardens and a blue armchair. It was indeed a very beautiful room.

_"This is a very pretty room," _Hanyuu admitted as she wandered around, trying to distract herself from the fruity smell that was emitting from a few feet away and making her tummy scream to be fed. She shifting her gaze up to the elegant crystal chandelier above her head, _"Are you sure this The Lord's study or is it really a ballroom!?"_

Ai chuckled at the half demon's fascination and great interest in a room with not much significance, if she saw the proper ballroom or dining hall she would literally be begging The Lord to make her his. "No, my Lady. This is not a ballroom." she smiled in amusement, "I can assure you that this _is _Lord Komatsu's private study."

_"So if this is his study, where is HE?"_

"Don't worry, miss. He will be along shortly. You just make yourself comfortable in here and wait for him to come and get you. Help yourself to refreshments if you'd like."

Hanyuu chuckled at the word refreshment, 'don't mind if I do' she thought to herself.

"Well please excuse me, I have a few errands to run." Ai said, bowing her head.

Hanyuu simply nodded and waved as Ai left, closing the doors behind her and leaving the younger girl alone with her thoughts. She plodded over to a marble statute of what looked to be a winged person, then again when she studied the other statues they were all angels only in different positions and with unique appearances. Gee, this man sure was obsessive. Shifting her attention the the pile of papers on the desk across the room (and the bowl of fruit), she walked over to it and picked up a few sheets to examine (hopefully without Komatsu catching her being nosy). She also faced a peach and gnawed at it with her fangs, letting the sweet juice run down her tongue and making her growl at the tastiness of it. Her stomach was singing in joy at finally receiving food after all its hard begging.

After finishing the peach, she moved onto an orange as she looked at the many papers on the desk. They were collections of legend analysis' and constructive comments, they were legends and short stories of the winged people picked apart and explained thoroughly, there were also diagrams and explanations of the angels body structures and how they worked. Komatsu sure did have a lot of spare time on his hands for him to be able to write all of these papers, and from the look of it he must have had a lifetime to study.

The short stories caught her attention the most because of their interesting titles and summaries, some were labelled 'myth', some 'false' and a few were 'possible truth'. She flicked through the titles and stopped at one that went by the name: The Magic Stone and The Sword. There were question marks over the documents on it and Komatsu did not seem all too knowledgeable of this text, it didn't look to commonly read either, which meant that The Lord was even less likely to find out she had been having a look at it. Turning her head to make sure that she was alone, she returned her focus to the small book in her hands and opened it delicately, very careful as to not snap the thin wearing spine or squeeze orange juice on the worn pages.

_"In the beginning, in the high kingdom of the heavens, Amaterasu, a great sword was forged from the tears of angels and the bloodstained fangs of demons. However, it was too powerful to be left alone and had to be guarded at all times. When the bloodline of the winged people grew weak, they entrusted the blade to the other half of its heritage: the demons. It was given to a dog demon of high authority and supreme power who was capable of subduing the sword's immense power, he was the Lord of the Western domain and guarded and weilded the mighty fang greatly."_

Hanyuu stopped as she read about the great dog demon, in a story about a powerful sword, this seemed a little too convenient to be a coincidence. Could this be speaking of Inu no Taishō and the demon blade Sō'unga? It certainly sounded like it.

_"Then came a mix of the two species, a being with wings and demon blood coursing through her veins. From her sorrow and the souls of her loved ones came a mystical magic stone with the ability to grant wishes and purify the most wicked of hearts. However, since the stone was born with both demon and angel auras, it was neither evil nor good. If held by a person with a pure heart, it would glow with goodness and compassion; but if held by a person with a twisted heart, it would become defiled and emit pain and suffering. So the stone was entrusted to a purehearted priestess who soon met her demise due to the stone's presence and bad effect it had on her life."_

Okay. Now this sounded a lot like the Shikon Jewel and when it was given to Kikyo, and the part about a half demon angel creating it sounded like Hanyuu when she was Haya.

_"All seemed well until the great dog demon met his demise, leaving the sword unprotected and free to do as it pleased. But it was luckily sent to the underworld later by the dog demon's two sons. And when the pure priestess died also, the magic stone was burned with her body only to return when her spirit reincarnated in another, who managed to finish it finally. So when Amaterasu fell to ruin by the demons attacking, a prophecy was found. It said that when the sword and the stone returned to the kingdom and the sword wished on the stone's magic, it would open once again. But with both objects destroyed, there was no way for the prophecy to come true. And after all - a sword cannot make a wish, can it?"_

This didn't make any sense. Sō'unga and the Shikon Jewel had nothing to do with one another. And other reasons that this story could not be true: first, the sword had met its demise by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru long ago, and second the Shikon Jewel had been destroyed by Kagome's command. These were all things that Hanyuu witnessed through the Rift and which she had seen through her very own eyes. And with all the scribbles on the paper and possible theories, it seemed that Komatsu had thought of exactly the same reasons Hanyuu had for this story to be false.

"You're being pretty nosy peeking through the King 's stuff, aren't you? You know, maybe you're not that bad actually." came a more sinister version of her own voice, this meant that it could only be one person.

_"Makia right?" _Hanyuu said confidently as she turned to she her mirror image standing smirking before her with her arms crossed, _"What is it that you want? Are you supposed to be guarding me or something?"_

She chuckled darkly, "No. I came to deliver this ball of fur to you actually," she said in a matter of fact tone before revealing a small brown wolf cub in her left hand which was snarling at her loudly, "it followed after you when we kidnapped you. Is it yours or do I dispose of it?"

Hanyuu gasped that she would ever think of disposing a baby animal without even feeling a little bad about it. She scowled and snatched the cub from her copy's grasp and held it close to her chest in an attempt to calm it, its body relaxed and it drew its claws back into its paws when it realized that it was in the arms of the REAL Hanyuu.

_"Not that I want to see him, but where is Lord Komatsu?" _Hanyuu asked firmly, trying to sound as threatening as she could, _"Shouldn't he be here by now?" _Sure The Lord was creepy but at least he didn't look exactly like her! Talking to Makia made her feel as if she were talking to her own reflection, only a slightly more spooky reflection of herself.

Makia scoffed at the mention of Komatsu, "Heh. You still call him a Lord after all you've been through? You can drop the fancy titles when you're around me, I really don't give a damn."

Hanyuu frowned and shifted her gaze down to the wolf cub in her arms, she rubbed its chin and smiled softly at it. This was the one from before with the grey eyes and scratched ear, it was comforting to see someone who was vaguely familiar.

Sighing inwardly, Makia turned and walked in the direction of the door. Before she left, she tilted her head slightly and addressed Hanyuu, "Say, you know that story you're reading? Do you understand what it's saying yet?"

Hanyuu looked up and blinked in confusion, she shook her head, _"No, why? Do you?" _she asked.

Ignoring the question, Makia turned and walked out without saying anything else. The girl would soon realize the true meaning behind the story and the significance that she had to it. And as far for Komatsu, the servants had lied, he was out attending to some business with Kirai so Hanyuu would have a long wait (hey at least she has food!). Speaking of which, Makia really needed to get to them now, Komatsu had requested her presence and he would be rather annoyed if she didn't show up. Heck, he could even kill her if he wanted to! Maybe hurrying would be a good option.

* * *

**In the next chapter: we finally go back to the present! Thanks for reading, review if you enjoyed the chapter! ~Happy**


	11. The Impossible Children & The Nine Keys

**Okay I know what you're thinking, where the hell have I been all this time? Well I have been bombed with coursework for pretty much every subject and I have been very busy studying for exams, so I have had little time to continue the story. But I have in fact, gone back to arc one and re-written up to chapter 19 to finer detail and more description. So I have not been competently wasting my time by sitting around doing nothing whenever my schoolwork was temporarily under control. You can go back and check that out if you want but there isn't really any MAJOR changes.**

**Also you might want to pay close attention to this chapter as there are vital key points and clues to the plotline here that will be more important later on, and use these clues to make your own guesses on what is going to happen next. It all ties up at the end I promise.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

The Bone Eater's well shimmered in the white light of the moon, as the trees around the clearing it resided in swayed in the night's breeze. Makia peered down into the dark pit and placed her hands on its wooden side, staring down intently into the nothingness. It was so dark and empty - just like her. She ran her fingers across the worn wood and traced the lines where the planks and ivy met. It felt rough and drew blood from her index finger, which she rose closer to her face and examined the wooden splinter that had attracted itself into her flesh. The blood slowly trickled down from her hand and created a small pool at the edge of the well, it was clear and a dark colour that was illuminated by the dim light of the moonlit sky. In her reflection, all she saw was the girl whom she had been cloned from, her mirror image... Hanyuu. That was all she was: just a poorer copy of the last winged being that Komatsu needed in order to carry out his plan. She was nothing.

"Makia,"

She turned her head to see her Lord Komatsu standing behind her with his arms at his sides and Kirai at his feet, and he had his gaze locked onto her. She stiffened at his intense look as she narrowed her rose red eyes and crossed her arms impatiently. "Komatsu." she muttered, covering her bleeding finger by tucking it into her black yukata and pressing it against her chest, causing the thick liquid to imprint into her lower collarbone and strain her skin.

Komatsu pretended not to see her injured finger and shifted his gaze to the dry well behind her, he smirked. "Long I have waited to travel through this strange portal to the unknown dimension that Kagome originated from," he chuckled, still staring at the well with excitement, "and now... it would appear that I shall have my wish furfilled."

From out of nowhere, Ayumu appeared to the side of the Lord and laughed heartily. "Oh, you and your wishes, my Lord." he cackled, "You truly are obsessed with the powers of that girl, Hanyuu. Kukuku."

Kirai smiled a toothy grin, exposing her large fangs before slithering towards Makia and coiling around her feet slowly. Makia sighed in frustration as she tried to shake the eel off of her feel. How she hated this vile and slimy creature that Komatsu insisted on keeping, it was absolutely repulsive in every way. The eel hissed at her attempts to remove her from her feet and wrapped herself around the girl's ankles more tightly. "Get off me at once, you disgusting thing!" she whispered in a threatening tone as she shook Kirai harder.

"Come now, Makia." Komatsu sighed, "Try to treat Kirai with a little more care, she is precious. The two of you are connected since you were born from her venom and the blood of Hanyuu. If she is injured - so are you. If she dies - so do you. Just try to keep that in mind."

Makia frowned and stopped resisting the leechy eel. What he had said was the truth, her and Kirai shared a bothersome connection meaning that she had no excuse but to protect the eel from danger. If she wanted to keep her life, that is. If it wasn't for that, she would happily hack the thing into tiny little pieces without giving it a second thought.

Komatsu smiled at her expression and marched forward towards the well. "Let us depart at once. We are wasting our time here." he ordered, "Go ahead, Makia. Open the portal."

She looked down into the dry well and felt its powers rising, if Hanyuu was able to pass through here then so was she. She wasn't an entirely useless copy, it was only the wings and powers of a winged being which she lacked. Ayumu coughed slightly to get her attention and gave her a rough nudge in the shoulder, snapping her out of her envious thoughts and back to reality. So she climbed over the side of the well and slid down into the blackness below, closely followed by Ayumu, Kirai and Komatsu himself.

A dark figure waited in the shrubbery beside the well and watched as they disappeared down into the queen crater, it sped over and leapt in after them just before the gateway closed.

* * *

"YUKI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING READING MY DIARY LIKE THAT WITHOUT ASKING MY PERMISSION!?" Tomoyo shrieked at her younger sibling, who was sitting comfortable on Hōjō's leather sofa in his apartment and flicking through the pages of a small pink booklet that was patterned with glittery hearts and stars.

The little redhead looked up from her reading and blinked innocently, "What's wrong with me reading it, sister? It's mostly about me and Hōjō so I have a right to know what you think of me." She returned her attention to the diary in her hands and giggled, "Besides.. I'm in the middle of how it felt when Hōjō kissed you for the first time. What's this about tongues...?"

"THAT IS IT! GIVE THAT THING BACK RIGHT NOW!" she screamed in embarrassment as her face turned bright pink and began to steam furiously, before she lunged at her little sister in an attempt to steal back the book that was filled with her personal thoughts and feelings.

Yuki giggled again and hopped off of the sofa quickly, cuddling the diary close to her chest as Tomoyo went crashing head-first into the leather cushions. She squealed with laughter at her sister and rolled around on the floor in hysterics. And deciding to take it a little further, she opened the book on the following page and began to read it out loud: "It was quite breathtaking actually. The feel of his passion for me as he held me tightly and showed me just how strongly he felt about me. I felt as if my heart was going to pump right out of my chest at the intensity of it all."

Breathing heavily and trying to contain her frustration, Tomoyo jumped down on the little girl and began to tickle her with rage, causing her to squeal even more and squirm around beneath her. "SOMEONE AT YOUR AGE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW THINGS LIKE THAT JUST YET!" she yelled, increasing the power in her fingertips as she continued to torture her younger sibling without mercy.

Just then, Hōjō strolled in through the door with two plastic bags and paused at the scene he saw before him. He blinked and remained silent, unsure of what exactly was taking place this time. Ever since he had asked the two sisters to come and live with him since their parents were always away, they seemed to get into a lot of disagreements and petty arguments. Well that was what siblings did after all, so he could hardly say that he blamed them. All they had was each other now, since Ren was back in the feudal era with Arina. He was sure that they missed their older brother dearly, just as he did.

Tomoyo stopped tickling her sister and crawled off of her, whilst laughing awkwardly and yanking her diary out of the little girl's grasp. "Hōjō.. Hey." she smiled as her embarassed blush grew even more. "So what have you got in those bags you're carrying?" she asked suddenly, changing the subject and pushing the diary down her checked shirt where she knew it would be safe from Yuki.

"I picked up some skewered Dango for us to eat and some Green Tea too if you're both up for it?"

Yuki's eyes twitched at the mention of her favourite treat as she sat up instantly and smiled at him sweetly. "Did you say that you have some... skewered Dango?" she asked.

"Yes," he said hesitantly, raising an eyebrow at her sudden change in mood.

The young redhead smirked and began to whistle innocently, "I see..."

Tomoyo sighed tiredly and rose to her feet, Yuki had an unhealthy obsession with those dumpling sweets and they drove her insane whenever she had them, it was like Inuyasha and his ramen... only 10 times worse. "Well let's wait until tomorrow to eat them," she yawned, "it's pretty late and I'm exhausted."

Hōjō nodded and put the treats away, much to Yuki's dismay as she hung her head low in sadness and slowly walked to her room. Tomoyo smiled and bumped her on the head lightly as she passed her, receiving a half frown half chuckle as the little girl stuck out her tongue and left the room.

Just as Tomoyo herself was about to follow to bed, Hōjō reached out and stopped her. She turned to face him and looked at him in confusion, "What's up?" she asked curiously.

"I found something today in the university library," he started, "something... weird."

"Weird? What was it?"

He rummaged around in the other plastic bag he had brought with him and pulled out an old looking book. He handed it over for her to examine more closely and took a seat on the sofa, where the cushions were all messed up for some reason.

Tomoyo read the title of the book: 'The Impossible Children'. What an interesting title the book had, she wondered just what it could be about and what made Hōjō bring it back with him. She felt the width of it and it's spine, it was only very thin so it has to be a short story of some kind. So she opened to the first page and read the contents out loud.

"Once upon a time there were three impossible children who were marked with the seals of the Gods and were blessed with incredible amounts of power, which had been bestowed upon them by their late mother and father who had met their demise by a mystic, _magic stone_ with the ability to grant one's deepest desires. Before they perished, they made a final wish on the stone before they left the world for good. Their wish had been for their three children to have their powers and heritage sealed and for them to be sent away to _a land that was yet to be_, in order to ensure their safety. So the trio were orphaned and sent away to the distant land, with their memories clouded and their powers locked away. The only clue to their past they possessed was the _supernatural marks_ they wore on their backs, the seals of the ancients. Three of the _Nine Keys_ required to open _the kingdom of the heavens_ and aqquire absolute conquest - The Bird of Fire, The Monster of Wind and The Siren of Water."

Tomoyo looked up from the book and over at Hōjō. "What is this story?" she asked, "What's all this about orphaned children and their sealed away powers? And what's this magic stone and these nine keys?"

He rose from the sofa and pulled a sheet of paper from inside his shirt, which he handed to her, "Now read this."

She examined the old sheet that appeared to have been violently torn out of another book, Hōjō was not usually such a public vandal so this small sheet of text must have been incredibly important for him to go to such extremes in order to get it. She read the top of it: 'The Nine Keys of Amaterasu'. Nine Keys, huh? So this linked back to the other story?

"When the _kingdom of the heavens_ was sealed away by the winged ancients before they died out, many many centuries ago, _Nine Keys_ were left behind that had the power to open the sky castle once again. They consisted of - The _Three Seals of Shikigami_, The _Four Souls_ of Absolution, The _Sword of The Underworld_ and The Wish Granting _Magic Stone_. When all nine items should come together, the kingdom should return to its former glory and whoever possessed the legendary nine items, should gain _eternal youth and power._"

She blinked in an attempt to absorb the vast amounts of information she had just read and turned over the sheet just to check if there was any more text on the other side. When she found no more she looked up at Hōjō in confusion, "Why did you show me these things? What does any of it have to do with anything?" she asked.

"You mean you haven't picked up on it from all of that?"

She shook her head.

"The children with marks on their backs that gave them supernatural powers? You and Ren have magical tattoos on your backs that allow you to transform into mythical creatures. Don't you think that sounds slightly coincidental?"

He was right. The fact that two siblings, her and Ren, had power marks on their backs just like the ones in the story was a bit of a far-fetched coincidence and it made an awful lot of sense, but there was one small fact that didn't quite add up. The story had had _three _supernatural children that had the ability to transform. Yuki did not have any kind of special ability like that. So could it be that this story was not about them after all? And what was this sky kingdom, Amaterau? She had never heard of such a place before which weakened the chances of the story being about them even more. True, the marks on her and Ren's backs were Shikigami powered but she was sure there were many others who could do the same thing as them. And they weren't orphans either. They had parents, they were just away all of the time on business trips and were too occupied to call.

"But have you seen when these papers are dated?" he asked, interrupting her trail of thoughts.

She shook her head again and looked down at the dates on the book and torn out page: _1506AD._

"1506AD was a date in the Fuedal Warring States period." he confirmed, "That's very near to the time where Kagome and the others live.. or in these circumstances I should say _lived._"

Tomoyo froze. So these were feudal prophecies? Her, Ren and even Yuki in this case had all travelled to the past at some point, meaning that they could very well be a part in these stories. "I see..." she said finally.

She re-read the information again, taking in the important parts. So she had made a strong estimate that The Three Seals of Shikigami could very well be her and her two siblings, though Yuki did not have any Shikigami power. But these Four Souls of Absolution..? Could they be the four souls: Aramitama (Courage), Nigimitama (Friendship), Kushimitama (Wisdom) and Sakimitama (Love)? She had no idea what The Sword of The Underworld could be but she was quite certain that it wasn't Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga. And finally this Magic Stone that was in both of the stories, the stone with the power to grant one's deepest desires and wishes. It couldn't be what the others had told her about before, the thing they had originally fought so hard to destroy? Surely it couldn't be the...

"LET ME GO!"

Hōjō and Tomoyo's heads spun instantly in the direction of the scream. It had come from Yuki's room and had sounded a lot like her.

"Yuki!" she cried in panic as she bounded off to aid her sister with Hōjō following close behind.

She ran to the door to her little sister's room and slammed down on the handle forcefully, but it appeared to have been wedged with something and refused to open. "Why won't it open goddammit!?" she shrieked, bashing on the door with her fists as Yuki's screaming grew louder. "YUUKI!" she screeched loudly as frustrated tears began to form in her eyes.

"Get out of the way!" Hōjō shouted suddenly as he stood in front of the door. She did as he commanded and ran to the side. He made a fighting stance and struck the door with his right foot, it flung open at the force and fell down on the floor.

Tomoyo rushed in to help her sister and gasped in horror at what she saw. Yuki was dangling by her neck in the air from the tight grasp of Inuyasha and the others previous archenemy.. _Naraku_.

His narrow reddened eyes shifted to Tomoyo and Hōjō who were standing staring at him in sheer terror, he smirked and tightened his grip on the little girl's neck in his grasp. Now that the elder sibling was here too, he could take two of the Shikigami seals instead of just one. Things were slowly coming together now. Perhaps his luck had taken a turn for the better after Hanyuu had gone and purified him before.

"Onigu.." Tomoyo started before Hōjō grabbed her arm and shook his head sadly.

"That's not the bandit we once knew anymore, this demon just talks and looks a lot like he did."

Naraku chuckled darkly, "Ah Hōjō, always so observant."

"How are you still alive!?" Tomoyo cried, "Hanyuu killed you!"

"That is correct, she did kill me. But some foolish demon king decided that he needed to revive me in order to use my powers to his advantage. He has not yet realized that I intend to use him to _my _advantage, what a stupid man he is. In fact I do believe he was the father of the wench who revived me once before. Now what was her name again? Oh yes, I do believe that she was called was Arina."

"Why the hell would Arina's father want to revive you!?"

"Something about Amaterau, I am apparently required as are you and your sister. Now behave and come along me with me, Shikigami seals."

Hōjō stood in front of his girlfriend protectively, "She isn't going anywhere with you!"

"Sorry Hōjō, it would seem that you don't have a part to play in this grand scheme so therefore it cannot hurt to kill you here and now."

As he rose his free hand towards Hōjō and prepared to kill him, a voice stopped him, "Stop wasting time, Naraku. Just get the sisters and we can go."

He turned his head to see Makia sitting on the window ledge behind him, looking extremely bored. He frowned at her.

"Ha-Hanyuu?" Tomoyo and Hōjō gasped in shock. Something was very wrong here, she was supposed to be dead! How was it possible for her to be here and alive? They were both well aware that Hanyuu had been in love with Onigumo in the past but she knew that he was gone now, she had killed him herself! Had she been manipulated into thinking he had returned and was still the same bandit?

Makia could feel Naraku's cold gaze on her as she returned the scowl. She knew that he hated how alike she looked to Hanyuu, whenever he looked at her she could swear that he was trying to kill her just with his harsh expression and actions. Komatsu should have just lied to him and kept him believing that she was the real thing, if that was the case she would be spared a lot of unpleasantness from the cruel demon here.

* * *

*Flashback*

"Now be warned, Makia. This demon was one in love with the girl you resemble so greatly, and she was the one who killed him. So do not be surprised with the way he reacts when he lays eyes on you." Komatsu explained.

Makia looked down at the empty body on the floor below her with the long black hair and tentacles escaping from his back. So this was the Naraku that Inuyasha and the others had fought so hard to defeat, and the bandit that had once harboured feelings for Hanyuu only to be killed at her hand. But he was also one of the keys needed to open Amaterasu, though Komatsu had told no one which one he was.

"When he awakens, we shall send him down the portal after us and have him capture two of the Seals of Shikigami that are in the other world there, and I need you to assist him."

Ayumu appeared out of thin air and examined the body of Naraku, "But if Hanyuu killed the guy, won't he try to kill Makia for revenge or something because he'll think it's her?" he asked.

"He may," Komatsu confirmed, "but if we play him correctly we should be able to convince him that a copy of her was necessary. Being as proud and smug as he is, he will believe that he can use us and trick us but little will he know is that I gave him life and I can take it away when his job is complete."

The elemental king snapped his fingers and brought life to the empty vessel of Naraku. Arina had not done a bad job of reviving him before, but her abilities were nothing compared to his. Naraku was the perfect killing machine now.

He demon spectre's red eyes snapped open and he examined his surroundings. What was this? He had died. He was sure of it. Hanyuu had purified him herself.

"Hello, Naraku."

Naraku glanced up at the voice and blinked. Was that Hanyuu staring down at him? No, she had killed him, she would not grant him life again afterwards. And she spoke telepathically, this girl was speaking normally with her voicebox. So what exactly was happening? "Han..yuu?" he frowned in confusion.

Another voice entered Naraku's ears as he turned and saw a large man staring down at him, "I am afraid that this is not Hanyuu." he said.

Naraku studied her more closely, sure there a few minor differences like her eye colour but she still looked just like the half demon girl he knew.

"She is Makia," Komatsu explained, "Hanyuu's copy. The real one died in Inuyasha's arms shortly after she killed you." He had no intention of telling him that Hanyuu was actually alive and well in his castle. It would increase the chances of him betraying him and abusing his castle in search of the real girl.

Hanyuu had died? What? Had his miasma wound been so severe that it managed to kill her like he had originally intended? But never mind all of that, what would having a copy of her accomplish? "And what purpose does this copy serve? To trick Inuyasha and the others?" he asked suspiciously.

"Exactly, they will all be mere pawns on my game board if they fall prey to my trap."

Naraku smirked, "A rather decent deception on your part. But what is it that you have revived me for though?"

"I need you assistance. Have you heard of the tale of Amaterasu?"

He raised an eyebrow, "I have." Haya had told him stories of the ancient kingdom many years ago and he had often come across small fables and legends about it in the time he had spent waiting for her to return to him.

"I need The Three Seals of Shikigami and two of them are in the other time that Kagome came from. I wish for you and Makia to go and obtain them for me."

"And how does any of this benefit me?"

"You shall have the riches of the heavenly kingdom, and perhaps have the power to regain your lost Hanyuu."

Naraku's smirk widened. This demon actually believed that he was gullible enough to fall for such a thing, how amusing. If anyone was going to be deceived here - it was this fellow here. "Keep going."

*End of Flashback*

* * *

Yuki squirmed uncomfortably in Naraku's grasp as she gasped for air. He squeezed harder until she lost consciousness and went limp in his grip.

"NO YUKI! LET HER GO!" Tomoyo screamed, pulling Hōjō's hand off her and lunging at him.

Ayumu appeared in her line of jump and grabbed her, his eyes glowed a bright white and sent her unconscious too. "Got her." he smirked.

"Tomoyo!" Hōjō cried, about to run to her before he realized that he couldn't. He looked down at his feet and found a large slimy eel wrapped around his feet, it hissed and sunk its fangs down into his ankle. He cried out in pain and also fell unconscious because of the poisonous venom that was more running through his bloodstream.

"Okay we've got them all now, boys. Can we go?" Makia asked.

Naraku gave her a cold glare and flew out of the window with Yuki in his grasp, closely followed by Ayumu and Kirai who had attached herself to Ayumu.

Makia frowned at the look Naraku had just given her, it wasn't her fault that she looked so much like Hanyuu! He didn't have to give her such an attitude whenever he looked at her! She punched the window frame and jumped after the group.

* * *

**Well Naraku is back again. I know, why won't he just stay dead right? But the information in this chapter is more important and he does have a vital part to play with Amaterasu, so just keep it all in mind and stay tuned for the next chapter! Review if you enjoyed ~Happy**


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